Pakistan has assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the Letter of Intent (LoI) to increase the petroleum development levy (PDL) by Rs50 per litre, of which Rs10 per litre would be increased in September, media reports have claimed.
Pakistan would get a $1.17 billion loan tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of the combined seventh and eighth reviews.
To pay its external debt servicing of $22 billion and in order to fulfil the current account deficit (CAD) of $11-$12 billion for the purpose of avoiding further depletion of foreign currency reserves, Pakistan will have to manage external financing of $35 billion in the ongoing fiscal year.
Media reports have also claimed that the government has requested the IMF’s board to increase the EFF size from $6 billion to $7 billion for its time frame from September 2022 to June 2023.
The Letter of Intent sent back to IMF before the expected board meeting on August 29 was signed by the Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and Acting Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Dr. Murtaza Syed.
