IMF to Question PM Khan’s Relief Package During 7th Review of EFF Program

In the forthcoming review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to question the government’s merits of the relief package and incentives recently announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The news was confirmed by Esther Perez Ruiz, IMF Resident Representative in Pakistan. The talk is scheduled to begin from March 4 and will continue for two weeks till the completion of the seventh review of EFF program under $6 billion. The review will be followed by the Executive Board meeting in April 2022.

For the economic relief package, PM Khan announced a price reduction in petrol and diesel by Rs10 per litre and an electricity tariff by Rs5 per unit. It is expected that the government will spend Rs360 billion on the two fronts of POL and electricity. According to Executive Director Sustainable Policy Institute (SDPI), Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri, the government has seen a specific fiscal space of Rs259 billion which will be spent to provide relief in energy prices. Dr. Suleri added that the announcement of relief measures wasn’t “a knee-jerk reaction” to any specific event.

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