The Ministry of Finance has clarified that Pakistan’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme is a comprehensive government programme and does not concern the ministry alone, 24NewsHD TV reported on Tuesday
According to the Finance Ministry, the IMF programme is not limited to financial figures or fiscal targets.
It includes wide-ranging reforms covering economic growth, social protection, governance, energy-sector improvements and climate resilience.
The ministry said the programme aims to strengthen economic stability while advancing reforms needed for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
The ministry said the programme involves the Finance and Planning ministries, Energy Division, provincial governments, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan and other relevant institutions.
Each ministry and institution participates in technical negotiations on reforms and targets related to its respective area.
Clarifying the role of the petroleum development levy (PDL), the ministry said it is not the central focus of the IMF programme but one of several sources of government revenue.
Petroleum pricing policy, however, forms part of the agreed IMF framework, including regular adjustments to align petroleum prices with international prices.
The ministry said the fiscal strategy also includes increasing FBR revenue, broadening the tax base and rationalising provincial taxation and expenditures.
The FY2026-27 programme places particular emphasis on increasing additional revenue and improving FBR performance.
It rejected the notion that inflation, unemployment, poverty or low economic growth can be directly attributed to any single fiscal measure.
Pakistan’s economic performance, it said, is influenced by multiple factors, including global and domestic commodity prices, exchange rates, fiscal and monetary conditions, fiscal imbalances, limited access to external financing and international developments.
The ministry maintained that fiscal stability cannot be separated from economic growth.
Restoring fiscal sustainability, building foreign exchange reserves and reducing refinancing risks are necessary for sustainable private investment and economic expansion.
It said fiscal stabilisation measures had helped reduce economic imbalances and demand pressures, lower inflation and improve stability in the external sector.
The Finance Ministry also stressed that stabilisation measures were not implemented without social protection.
The IMF programme contains specific social-protection targets, including targeted cash assistance under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and measures to adjust cash support in line with inflation.
The ministry said targeted, temporary and fiscally sustainable measures were being taken to protect vulnerable segments of society.
It further stated that the pace of growth in debt had remained at its lowest level in two decades during the last fiscal year.
On agricultural reforms, the ministry said these were not solely its responsibility and required the involvement of relevant federal and provincial institutions.
Taxation of agricultural income, it added, is constitutionally and administratively a provincial responsibility.
The Finance Ministry said its role was to coordinate the overall programme, while policy formulation and implementation remained the responsibility of the relevant federal and provincial institutions.
Reporter: Waqas Azeem