Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday stressed the need to honour the International Monetary Fund (IMF) commitments, insisting that the government could not bid farewell to the programme just yet.

In July last year, Pakis­tan and the IMF reached a three-year, $7 billion aid package deal, giving much-needed respite to the cash-strapped nation.

Under the programme, the global lender mandated Pakistan prioritised better public spending, fairer and more efficient taxation — especially from under-taxed sectors — and creating fiscal space for increased spending on health, education, and social protection programmes.

That aside, it asked the country to impose a substantial levy on gas supply to industrial captive power plants (CPPs) to eliminate any cost-benefit between the grid power and their in-house electricity generation. The IMF also called for restructuring state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and improving public services, along with governance and transparency measures.

While talking to the business community at the Pakistan Stock Exchange today, the premier said, “We need to honour IMF commitments — we can’t just say tata bye bye (dismiss the programme on a whim) once we take off.

“We will say goodbye to it forever once the time is right,” he said.

Regarding the business community’s role, the premier insisted that the government and the business leaders needed to “build their relationship to achieve those targets”, giving the example of their tax targets.

“If you look at what IMF stated [their target as]10.6 tax-to-GDP ratio, we have achieved 10.8,” he said. “It’s something to celebrate but this is not enough — this is just the beginning.”

The premier insisted that there was a need for investment now, recounting that the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) interest rate went from a record-high of 22 per cent to 13pc.

“Investors here say there is still a gap of 8 points — I would want it to go to 6pc,” he stressed, “But it has to be done with an alert mind, with prudence, so we don’t get trapped in the future.

“We have to move bravely but with caution,” he added. “Regarding that, how do we actualise export-led growth? Everyone says growth should be export-led, that FDI [foreign direct investment] should be export-led so that profits come and dollars are present so we can retain them — all very well said but I need tangible proposals on how to implement export-led growth.”

The prime minister went on to compare Pakistan with Saudi Arabia “in a different context to the world”, highlighting that the country had mines and minerals while Saudi Arabia had “black gold”.

PM Shehbaz insisted the country had to head towards growth, adding that he knew that critics often spoke about “the engine heating up” and “Pakistan heading towards a boom-bust cycle once again” when it came to pursuing growth.

“A lot of experts have spoken and writers have written about it, but I invite you to come tell us what other way is there?” he rhetorically asked.

On the privatisation issue, the premier said that the process had been entirely transparent, citing the example of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) which the government failed to privatise in the first attempt.

“The entire process was 100pc transparent just like Islamabad Airport, the privatisation process for which is about to be concluded in the next few days,” he said.

Meanwhile, the KSE-100 index declined by 1904.23 points, or 1.64pc, to stand at 114,148.45 points from the last close of 116,052.68.

PM Shehbaz arrived in Karachi on a day-long visit, where he was expected to hold meetings with the Sindh chief minister and the business community, state-owned Radio Pakistan reported.

Upon his arrival at Karachi’s Faisal Airbase, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah welcomed him.

During his visit, the premier is set to tour the South Asia Pakistan Terminal at Karachi Port Trust, in addition to inaugurating the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)’s Faceless Customs Assessment System there which aims to bring transparency to customs clearance, according to the report.

Prior to visiting PSX, he also participated as the chief guest at the launch event of the Agha Khan University Manual of Clinical Practice Guidelines.