Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Sunday that the government had requested and facilitated the assessment presented in a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that highlighted financial irregularities in Pakistan.

The document?s publication, a precondition for the IMF?s approval for disbursing the next $1.2 billion loan tranche in December, found that institutional weaknesses, lack of transparency in state functions, preferential treatment for select businesses, and inefficiencies in public-sector transactions were major constraints to growth. It also called for a series of reforms spread across the next three to six months to help raise the growth rate to 5-6.5 per cent over the next five years.

The report led to criticism of the government, and opposition parties have called for a probe into the ?worst financial scandal of Pakistan?s history?.

However, Aurangzeb said during a press conference in Islamabad today that the government itself had requested and facilitated the assessment to strengthen institutional reforms.

He maintained that the report acknowledged significant progress in sectors including taxation and governance, and that many of its priority recommendations were ?already work in progress?.

The finance minister further said the government was committed to implementing the remaining recommendations as part of broader institutional reforms essential to sustaining Pakistan?s economic turnaround.

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