Pakistan’s forthcoming IMF bailout “will not be our last” if the government fails to significantly boost tax revenue, the country’s finance minister has warned in the wake of a budget that seeks to reset the country’s ailing economy. Muhammad Aurangzeb said he was “relatively confident” of reaching a staff-level agreement with the IMF this month on a loan, which his ministry has previously pegged at between $6 and $8bn.
The economy contracted last year, but has returned to modest growth. “The direction of travel is positive, and investors are showing confidence in the stock market,” said Aurangzeb, referring to the KSE100 index, which is one of Asia’s best-performing year to date. Still, the government faces a considerable challenge in putting Pakistan on the path for longer-term growth and debt sustainability, he said.