IMF seeks 174 legislative amendments from Pakistan

He said three reviews of the programme had been completed and Pakistan had so far received $4.1 billion. He said tax concessions had been withdrawn and restrictions had been imposed on the issuance of supplementary grants in line with IMF conditions.

However, significant progress had not been made in meeting targets related to circular debt in the energy sector. The IMF’s targets concerning education spending had also not been achieved. The declaration of assets by government officials was also discussed during the committee meeting., the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would provide some details of officials’ assets to the Establishment Division.

In cases involving unusual assets, the Establishment Division would take disciplinary action. Hina Rabbani Khar and Naveed Qamar expressed concerns over the partial declaration of officials’ assets. They said parliamentarians were required to declare all their assets and questioned why some assets of government officials would be disclosed while others would remain undisclosed.

They also sought details of the security concerns cited in this regard. The Finance Secretary said an amendment to the Sovereign Wealth Fund law proposes allowing joint investments.

He said the fund had been brought in line with the SECP law, and the matter was also part of discussions with the IMF.He further said subsidies being provided in various sectors were being phased out. Overall, the IMF was seeking 174 amendments, and the government would place all the proposed amendments before Parliament.