The International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, led by IMF Mission Chief Nathan Porter, held an initial meeting with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday.

According to a statement released by the Finance Division, the IMF team visited the finance ministry, where the delegation was welcomed by Aurangzeb.

The Finance Division statement, without delving into details, informed that Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervaiz Malik, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Jameel Ahmad, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Rashid Mehmood Langrial and other senior officials from the Ministry of Finance attended the meeting.

The IMF delegation arrived in Pakistan on Monday for a staff visit to discuss recent developments and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme performance to date. This mission was not part of the first review under the $7 billion EFF, which will be no earlier than the first quarter of 2025.

IMF team looks at fiscal performance

Sources had earlier told Business Recorder that the FBR on Monday briefed the IMF delegation on the revenue collection position for the fiscal year (2024-25), Tajir Dost Scheme and the strategy to overcome the expected shortfall of Rs230 billion in the second quarter (October-December) of the current fiscal year.

During the meeting, the FBR chairman shared short- and long-term measures to reduce anticipated shortfall of over Rs230 billion in the second quarter (October-December) 2024-25.

The FBR collected Rs877 billion during October 2024 against assigned target of Rs980 billion, a shortfall of Rs103 billion. The FBR collected Rs3,440 billion during first four months of 2024-25 against the assigned target of Rs3,636 billion set for July-October of current fiscal year, reflecting a shortfall of Rs196 billion.

Reports indicate that measures aimed at curtailing expenditure and increasing tax collection are to be high on the agenda of the IMF-Pakistan meetings.