ISLAMABD: The Finance Ministry on Sunday stated that the government is fulfilling all the commitments agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Stand-By-Arrangement (SBA)

A spokesman for the Finance Division on Saturday further stated that this was also evident from the successful completion of the first review of the Staff Level Agreement (SLA).

In response to a news item by a private channel, he added that neither release of fund have been delayed for employees-related expenditures (ERE) nor for development expenditure.

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However, when tried to contact the spokesman to ascertain how much development funds have so far been released, he was not available. The spokesman, in fact, claimed that the Finance Division has released (salary, pension and non-ERE) and development expenditure for the second quarter of the current fiscal year as well.

He added that tax collection by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and non-tax revenue collection have been on track and subsidies to the power sector are being made available as per the requirement of Circular Debt Management Plan (CDMP).

Additionally, the Finance Division has also released all the funds of the second quarter to the Benazir Income Support Program, which are being disbursed to the beneficiaries.

Additionally, the Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Division has accordingly, authorised funds for development expenditure to the ministries. The Finance Division and the Planning Division have not changed the release strategy and claimed that reports in this regard are inaccurate.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023