The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has acknowledged Pakistan’s measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Radio Pakistan reported on Tuesday.
IMF’s recent publication ‘Policy Tracker’ of its 193 member-states said that COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly in the past month in Pakistan, with 4,489 confirmed cases claiming 63 deaths, as of ninth of this month.
The fund said that the government announced a relief package worth 1.2 trillion rupees to help daily wagers, common people of Pakistan and boost the economy. Other measures include quarantining over three thousand travelers from Iran, closing borders with neighboring countries, international travel restrictions, school closures, social distancing measures, and lockdowns in cities and provinces across the country. Pakistan army troops were deployed to help provincial governments in their measures to contain the spread of the virus.
The government announced an economic stimulus package on the fiscal side under which key measures include an elimination of import duties on imports of emergency health equipment, relief to daily wage workers worth Rs 200 billion, Rs 150 billion for cash transfers to low-income families, accelerated tax refunds to the export industry with Rs 100 billion and financial support of Rs 100 billion to Small and Medium Enterprises.
The economic package also earmarks resources for an accelerated procurement of wheat worth Rs 280 billion financial support to Utility Stores worth Rs 50 billion relief in fuel prices with Rs 70 billion, a fund of Rs 15 billion to support health and food supplies, Rs 110 billion for electricity bill payments relief, Rs 100 billion for an emergency contingency fund and a transfer of Rs 25 billion to National Disaster Management Authority for purchase of necessary equipment to deal with the pandemic.
On monetary and macro financial front, the State Bank of Pakistan has responded to the crisis by cutting the policy rate twice by a cumulative 225 basis points to 11.0 percent in the span of less than two weeks in March this year.
The State Bank also announced two new refinancing facilities. First, the ‘Temporary Economic Refinancing Facility’ worth Rs 100 billion to stimulate investment in new manufacturing plants and machinery at seven percent fixed for 10 years. Second, the “Refinance Facility for Combating COVID-19” worth Rs 5 billion to support hospitals and medical centers the purchase of equipment to detect, contain, and treat COVID-19.
