Will Dar’s budget impress IMF? Some analysts say unlikely

According to media reports, some analysts said the budget was unlikely to impress the IMF.

“It is a plain vanilla budget with no path to structural reforms,” said Shahbaz Ashraf, chief investment officer at Karachi-based investment firm FRIM Ventures.

On Thursday, the IMF had said it has been discussing the budget with Pakistan with a focus on balancing debt sustainability while creating space to increase social spending.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar already claimed that Pakistan took tough decisions to fulfill IMF demands.

The Express Tribune reported that Mustafa Pasha, chief investment officer at Lakson Investments, said the IMF would likely ask for more measures around revenue collection.

“The budget is unlikely to improve chances of a staff level agreement (with the IMF) in June,” he said.

Ishaq Dar during his budget speech was confident that people would get relief from the budget.