Islamabad: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said in a recent report on governance and corruption in Pakistan that many key sectors of the country are not performing effectively due to corruption, complex systems and weak oversight. The report emphasizes that if Pakistan immediately implements a 15-point reform package, the economic growth rate can improve by up to 6 percent.
According to the IMF, Pakistan’s tax system is not only complex but also includes weak administrative capacity and insufficient oversight, which increases the risks of corruption. The organization said that delays in court cases slow down economic activities, while shortcomings in government procurement and resource management in departments give rise to corruption.
The report questions the powers, transparency, and privileges given to the SIFC and demands the immediate release of its annual report. It also says that all government procurement should be transferred to the e-governance system in the next 12 months.
The IMF says that people have to pay multiple times to get basic services, which deepens the roots of corruption. The organization pointed out that the political and economic elite has been using policies for their own benefit, which has affected economic growth.
The global organization said that many decisions in Pakistan are made on a temporary basis, while there are officers in various ministries who do not have expertise in their field. Losses in state-owned companies are also the result of corruption and weak policies.
According to the report, Pakistan has achieved FATF targets, but the punishment process has remained slow. The IMF suggested that tax officers be held strictly accountable and serious work should be done on reforms of the judicial system to reduce the burden of thousands of pending cases.
