IMF asks Pakistan to mobilise domestic tax revenues

Washington: The IMF has urged Pakistan to mobilise domestic tax revenues to provide for the social and development spending and place debt on a downward trend as the cash-strapped country is seeking bailout packages from global lenders to help its ailing economy return to "sustainable growth".

The statement of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Acting Managing Director David Lipton came after he met Prime Minister Imran Khan who is on a three-day official visit to the US at the invitation of President Donald Trump.

"I highlighted the need to mobilise domestic tax revenue now and on into the future to provide reliably for needed social and development spending, while placing debt on a firm downward trend," Lipton said on Sunday.

He said that they discussed recent economic developments and the implementation of the authority's economic reform programme supported by the IMF.

"Their programme aims to stabilise the economy, strengthen institutions and thereby put Pakistan on a path of sustainable and balanced growth," Lipton said.