Daily Times

The US dollar continued its upward trend against the Pakistani Rupee after gaining eight paisas and reaching Rs283.50. The greenback closed at Rs283.43 on Thursday interbank trading with an increase of 78 paisas. It is pertinent to note that the gap between rates in the inter-bank and open markets is required to be less than 1.25% under one of the structural benchmarks set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The economic team, headed by caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar, has briefed the visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) team about its performance, and assured it of full implementation of the $3 billion loan program. The visiting delegation has asked Pakistan to strictly implement all the targets. Finance Ministry sources said the IMF delegation also appreciated the actions of the economic team. The Pakistan side committed to meet all the targets set by the IMF. It briefed the visiting mission that almost all targets set for the first quarter of the fiscal year have been met. As per the briefing, the tax collection of the Federal Board of Revenue and the Petroleum Development Levy exceeded their targets. The team further said that the electricity and gas tariff had been increased and reforms were underway to control the circular debt. Reforms in government institutions were also underway, while the policy of market-based exchange rate was being implemented.