ISLAMABAD: Ali Pervaiz Malik Minister of State for Finance Revenue and Power said on Wednesday the federal government had addressed all requirements of the IMF in its annual budget, and now it was looking to clinch a staff-level agreement with the Fund for a bailout deal of more than $6 billion this month.

The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN)-led coalition government has set challenging revenue targets in its annual budget to help it win approval from the IMF for a loan to stave off another economic meltdown, even as domestic anger rises at new taxation measures.

In the budget, the government increased the taxes on the already burdened salaried class, brought exporters into the normal tax regime, increased the petroleum levy to Rs70 per litre and imposed new taxes on the real estate sectors, among others, to increase tax collection.

“We hope to culminate this (IMF) process in the next three to four weeks,” Malik told Reuters, with the aim of thrashing out a staff-level agreement before the IMF board recess. “I think it will be north of $6 billion,” he said of the size of the package, though he added at this point the IMF’s validation was the primary focus. The IMF did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Malik said the point of pushing out a tough and unpopular budget was to use it as a stepping stone for an IMF programme, adding the lender was satisfied with the revenue measures taken, based on their talks. “There are no major issues left to address, now that all major prior actions have been met, the budget being one of them,” Malik said.

While the budget may win approval from the IMF, it could fuel public anger, according to analysts. “Obviously they (budget reforms) are burdensome for the local economy but the IMF programme is all about stabilisation,” Malik said.