The official was not ready to share the one page corrigendum claimed to have been submitted to the IMF with this correspondent. He added that the Finance Ministry has clarified the media reports of a discrepancy in the GDP figure for 2013-14 in the MEFP for the third quarter review under the IMF program as a typographic error.
The Finance Ministry in a press release stated that "on perusal of the Memorandum it transpired that due to inadvertent oversight the expected GDP growth of 4.3 % was mentioned as 3.3 % whereas for the year 2014-15, the GDP expansion of around 4 % was mentioned instead of 5 %. The official stated that the Finance Minister has always maintained that GDP would remain over 4 per cent in 2013-14 and even stated during a press briefing along with Jeffery Frank Chief head of the IMF staff level mission at the conclusion of third review.
"The fourth review of economic performance of the country under $6.64 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is likely to be held next month and all the issues including growth rate would be further clarified," the official added. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Monday that it has communicated a GDP growth rate of 4.1 per cent to the Finance Ministry and is ready to defend its stance at any forum.
Talking to Business Recorder Chief Statistician, PBS Asif Bajwa said that Finance Ministry was responsible for creating confusion on the issue by giving a 3.3 per cent growth rate in Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) submitted to IMF after the conclusion of third review.
Bajwa added that PBS calculated 4.1 per cent GDP growth rate on the basis of performance of various sectors of the economy. "We stick to 4.1 GDP, which was mentioned in budget as well as announced by the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the floor of the parliament", he added. When asked about the growth rate mentioned in MEFP, he said 3.3 per cent GDP was noted by Finance Ministry in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP), which was inaccurate and does not match PBS figure for last fiscal year. He said PBS is not responsible for the 'typo mistake'.