The International Monetary Fund has urged the Pakistani government to take measures to bring inflation down and improve the viability of the energy sector.

The objectives of the Standby Arrangement programme are to provide a policy anchor for addressing domestic and external imbalances and a framework for financial support from other donors, multilateral and bilateral partners, including fresh financing and rollovers of debt coming due, IMF’s Director of Communications Department Julie Kozack said.

“Policy efforts centre on the implementation of the fiscal year 2024 budget, appropriate monetary policy aimed at bringing inflation down, and continued reforms to improve the viability of the energy sector. All of these reforms are ultimately aimed at paving the way for higher, more inclusive and more resilient growth,” she added.

To support social development and climate resilience, the programme envisages plans to strengthen public financial management, and tax administration efforts, and to better prioritise public investment. And all of this is being done with support from partners including not only the IMF but also the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Read: Pakistan assures IMF of taxing agriculture, construction sectors

Kozack also urged for placing the burden on the wealthy segments of society where the rich pay their taxes, saying that the tax to GDP ratio in Pakistan low.

Earlier, IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva sent a ‘simple’ message of taxing wealthy people and protecting the poor people of the country.

“Let me send a simple message to everybody in Pakistan. What we are asking in our program is please collect more taxes from the wealthy and please protect the poor people of Pakistan,” Georgieva said.