Pakistan House passes Bill to meet IMF demands

Islamabad, February 21

Pakistan’s National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a money bill aimed at raising tax revenues to fulfil the demands set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for seeking a USD 1.1 billion loan facility to avoid an economic meltdown.

The Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2023 or “mini-budget” was approved in the lower lower house of Parliament days after the IMF urged Pakistan to take strong measures to avoid getting into a “dangerous place” where its debt needs to be restructured.

Meanwhile, Aftab Sultan, the chief of Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog, has resigned after he was asked to do “certain things” by the federal government.