The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to withdraw the provincial development projects from its federal development budget, urging the membership of constitutional responsibilities defined under the 18th amendment.
The federal government is expected to exclude 168 provincial development schemes for the upcoming budget, sources said in Express PK Press Club.
The total cost of these projects amounts to 1,100 billion rupees, of which 300 billion rupees have already been spent.
The IMF ordered that no other federal funding will be allocated to these projects, which are considered to be the responsibility of provincial governments. The completion of remaining work would require around 800 billion rupees, which, according to the IMF, should now be funded thanks to provincial development budgets.
The demand reflects the broader IMF thrust for the budgetary discipline and the clarity of federal responsibilities for procurement-in-law while Pakistan continues to negotiate economic reforms within the framework of its loan program.
Pakistan Minister of Finance, Muhammad Aurangzeb, left for New York earlier this week before the main commitments in Washington, where he should raise the question of the re -layer of the guaranteed debt with his Chinese counterpart. The discussion should take place on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to government sources, Aurangzeb should also meet the director general of the IMF and a senior official of the US Treasury Department during the visit.
