The International Monetary Fund (IMF) refuted government of Pakistan’s claim that its program requirements contributed to the delay of the Punjab polls, claiming that Islamabad can reallocate funds or impose additional taxes to meet its constitutional commitments.
According to Esther Perez Ruiz, the IMF’s resident representative, there are no constraints under Pakistan’s EFF-supported program that could impede the country’s ability to engage in constitutional activities.
Following the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to postpone the Punjab elections till October 8 due to insufficient funding and security.
In addition, it suggests that Pakistan’s mistrust of the IMF is growing due to Islamabad’s failure to maintain its domestic and international constitutional commitments and its predisposition to hold the international lender accountable for its failures.
For the second time in the past four days, the IMF has refuted Pakistan’s claim that it interfered in matters outside the scope of the $6.15 billion rescue package, setting the record straight and denying to support the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s political programme (PDM).
Ruiz had previously stated that he wished to state categorically that there was no truth to any insinuated connection between past or present IMF-supported projects and the Pakistani government’s decision about its nuclear development.
Ruiz elaborated in a statement he released on Thursday: “The IMF sets aggregate general government targets [aggregating across federal and provincial government levels] and within these there is fiscal space to allocate or reprioritize spending or raise additional revenues to ensure constitutional activities can occur as required.”
The Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa elections will cost the ECP Rs 20.5 billion.
According to [the] secretary of finance’s statement to the commission, the country is undergoing an unprecedented economic crisis, which is being imposed by the IMF programme, which has set targets for preserving fiscal responsibility and deficit.
The statement continued, “[The finance secretary] stated that it would be difficult for the government to release funds now for general elections [for] the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and later for general elections [for] the National Assembly, [and] the provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan.
 denied Pakistan's claims that the program was linked to the delay Punjab polls, saying Govt could raise funds or taxes to meet its constitutional obligations.){kind=link}