WASHINGTON: Pakistan needs to mobilize domestic tax revenue to ensure funds for social and development programs, while reducing debt, the acting director of the International Monetary Fund said on Sunday after a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The two officials discussed recent economic developments and implementation of Pakistan’s IMF-supported economic reforms, which are aimed at stabilizing the economy, strengthening institutions and paving the way for sustainable and balanced growth, David Lipton said in a statement.
Khan’s government faces mounting pressure as rising prices and tough austerity policies under Pakistan’s latest bailout from the IMF are squeezing the middle class that helped carry it to power.
Lipton said the IMF and other international partners were working closely with the Pakistani government to support implementation of the reforms.
“I highlighted the need to mobilize domestic tax revenue now and on into the future to provide reliably for needed social and development spending, while placing debt on a firm downward trend,” Lipton said in a statement after the meeting.
Khan, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, is due to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. Trump is likely to press Khan for help on ending the war in Afghanistan and fighting militants.
Last year, Trump cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance to Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of offering “nothing but lies and deceit” while giving safe haven to terrorists, a charge angrily rejected by Islamabad.
In recent years, import-led consumption has propped up growth in Pakistan and helped hide the problems of an economy riddled with inefficiency and without a strong export base.
But Khan’s government, like many of its predecessors, has been forced to turn to the IMF to prevent a balance-of-payments crisis.
Economic growth, which reached 5.5% in the fiscal year to June 2018, is expected to slow to 2.4% this financial year, according to IMF estimates, barely enough to keep pace with the growth in a population that now numbers 208 million.
IMF says Pakistan needs to mobilize tax revenue, cut debt
IMF says Pakistan needs to mobilize tax revenue, cut debt
- Pakistan signed $6 bn IMF loan program to prevent balance of payment crisis
- Acting director IMF met with PM Khan in Washington
Pakistan’s Mahnoor Omer named among TIME’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026
- Omer moved a Pakistani court against the so-called ‘period tax’ in Sept. 2025 which has since sparked a national debate
- Taxes on sanitary pads in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to retail price, UNICEF says only around 12 percent women use such products
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani women’s rights activist Mahnoor Omer, who fought against taxes on menstrual products, has been named among the TIME magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026.
Omer’s efforts have been recognized alongside 16 activists, artists, athletes and businesswomen in the TIME’s Women of the Year 2026 list, including Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
Dissatisfied with the efforts to educate Pakistani girls about sexual violence, Omer founded the Noor Foundation at the age of 14 and held her own workshops with village girls about everything from climate change to menstruation, according to the TIME magazine.
Two years later, a conversation with a domestic worker about the price of pads made her realize that not everyone could afford these essentials. She moved a court against the so-called “period tax” in Sept. 2025 and the case has sparked a national debate on the subject, considered a taboo by many in Pakistan, since its first hearing late last year.
“A decade and one law degree after her interest in activism was sparked, Omer, now 25, is putting her passion and expertise to work in the name of gender equity,” TIME wrote about Omer on its website.
Taxes imposed on sanitary products in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to the retail price. UNICEF estimates just 12 percent of women in the country use commercially produced pads or tampons. The alternative, using cloth, risks health impacts including rashes and infections, and can make it impossible for girls to attend school while menstruating.
Omer’s suit, which awaits the government response, has sparked a national discussion. She says she spoke about menstruation to her father and male cousins, who thanked her for standing up for their daughters.
The 25-year-old, who is currently enrolled in a master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics, sees this case as just the first of many.
“I’m not free until every woman is free,” she was quoted as saying by TIME. “I want to leave no stones unturned in terms of what I can do with the next few decades, as a lawyer for the women in my country and gender minorities in general.”
