The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed that the coronavirus outbreak may have an adverse effect on the Pakistani economy during its meeting with the government officials on Monday.
According to a media report, the IMF team, visiting Pakistan to hold policy-level talks, was concerned that badly affected the Chinese economy will also have a spillover effect and may slow down Islamabad’s GDP growth.
Pakistani authorities, however, rejected any negative impact on its economy in totality and argued that there would be no negative impact, which means the GDP growth target of 3.3 per cent and inflation hovering around 11 to 12 per cent must remain intact.
The new coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year has killed more than 1,000 people and spread around the world. The latest figures from China show there are more than 42,600 people infected in the country.
Talks between Pakistan and the IMF began last Monday for the disbursement of the third tranche under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) finalised in May last year.
Pakistan was placed on FATF’s grey list in 2018. In October 2019, the FATF retained Pakistan on its grey list and gave the country four-months to take stronger measures to combat terror financing and money laundering.
