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IMF urges donors to deliver on Pakistan aid

* Mission chief for Pakistan says aid delivered so far is ‘very low’

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday urged donors to follow through on billions of dollars in aid promised for Pakistan, adding Islamabad must work harder on its own reforms.

“Delivery on the pledges made in Tokyo has been very much short of the promises made,” said Adnan Mazarei, the Washington-based IMF mission chief for Pakistan.

“It is very low,” he added of the funds received thus far. Some of the funding promised in Tokyo was meant to focus on providing a social security net and its absence had made it tougher for Pakistan to implement the necessary spending on infrastructure, to reduce poverty and to help internally displaced persons, he added.

“It is genuinely weakening the government’s finances,” he said.

The IMF mission chief said during a recent trip to Pakistan, he had urged the government to raise revenues more quickly via a value added tax (VAT) and to make much-needed improvements in the electricity sector.

“It is very important to move forward quickly with raising revenues - especially the VAT - both to be able to fund urgent, critical spending and to expand the tax base and make the tax system more equitable,” he added. reuters

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