ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif reiterated on Friday that Pakistan had fulfilled all the conditions of the International Monitory Fund (IMF) to revive the loan programme and the 9th review of the IMF board would be completed this month.
Addressing a cabinet meeting ahead of the federal budget of 2023-24, the prime minister highlighted the country’s current economic problems, stressing that his government was all serious to resolve these issues.
The PM said that when the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) came to power last year, it found the economy in worse condition but, due to its commitment and the timely assistance from friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates, it managed to bring some stability to the economy.
“China, Saudi Arabia, and UAE helped Pakistan to narrow the targeted gap of additional $6 billion dollars for the revival of the IMF programme,” he said, adding, “Pakistan has now fulfilled all the conditions of the IMF for the revival of its loan facility”.
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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressing Federal Cabinet meeting in Islamabad.
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— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) June 9, 2023
PM Shehbaz Sharif on Inflation
Highlighting the inflation and other economic difficulties faced by the people, the prime minister said that global crises like Russia-Ukraine war and the recent devastating floods in Pakistan brought havoc to the economy.
He said that inflation was a global phenomenon these days, which was affecting the entire world, including developed countries like US and UK, but they have the resources to provide relief to their people. Unfortunately, Pakistan was not so lucky in this regard.
Talking about the upcoming budget, slated in the National Assembly by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in a while, the PM said that the government had consulted all the stakeholders in agriculture, IT, exporters and other sectors. He said that their valuable suggestions had been incorporated in the budget.
