IMF sticks to 2.5% growth forecast for Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday kept Pakistan's economic growth forecast unchanged at 2.5% but slashed inflation rate to 23.6% for the current fiscal year, in a move that is largely in line with official projections.

The global lender released its flagship report, the World Economic Outlook, at the start of annual meetings in Morocco.

It left Pakistan's economic growth projection unchanged at 2.5%, which is lower than the official target by 1%. But it is consistent with the figure the IMF gave in its last report.

Like the World Bank, the IMF did not accept Pakistan's 0.3% GDP growth claim for last year. The new report has shown an economic contraction of 0.5% in the previous fiscal year, which was the last year of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government.

The previous government had pressurised the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to show a positive growth.

The 2.5% growth projection is the highest by any international financial institution. The World Bank has given a 1.7% growth forecast while the Asian...