Technical Meetings Continue Between the Ministry of Finance and the IMF

For the second consecutive day, technical meetings continue at the Ministry of Finance with a mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by General Financial Director Georges Meraoui and involving directors, officials, advisors, and specialists within the ministry. Today’s sessions began with a technical meeting attended by the Treasury Directorate and the Budget Directorate, dedicated to reviewing financial figures and results for the 2026 fiscal year to date.

The meeting reviewed actual revenues and expenditures for the current year compared to the same period in 2025, based on reports issued by the Treasury Directorate. Discussions also covered forecasts for revenues and expenditures for the remainder of the year, as well as proposed amendments to the draft budget law regarding revenues and expenditures and their medium-term implications.

In a second technical session, discussions focused with the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department on the plan to enhance tax compliance, measures taken to close the tax gap, and ways to increase revenue collection.

Participation included the Imports Directorate and the Value Added Tax Directorate, alongside representatives from the IMF team.

Discussions were based on an assessment conducted by the IMF mission about four months ago, which identified several gaps in tax compliance. The ministry is addressing these through three key pillars: capacity building, strengthening human resources, and implementing measurable, actionable procedures.

Risk Management: Unified Network, Reduced Human Intervention

On risk management, it was noted that the network is based on the Risk Determination Framework (RDF), developed two years ago in collaboration with the IMF, and a Risk Committee has been established, bringing together operational compliance units from regional offices and the central administration’s compliance unit.

Regarding the national audit plan, which has been developed, it is grounded in the risk network and includes comprehensive audits as well as targeted audits on specific issues, covering Large Taxpayer Offices (LTO) and regional offices. Unlike the traditional approach where the plan is issued from the central administration, input and proposals were requested from all regions and incorporated into the planning process. Additionally, the role of the Large Taxpayer Office was strengthened through coordination with the VAT Directorate and enhanced institutional and human capacity.

Strengthening regional offices, given their size and workload, includes differentiated treatment for non-filers, those filing incorrectly, late filers, and those delinquent or refusing to pay, with tailored actions for each category.

On digital transformation, progress was reviewed: 98% of direct tax filings are now electronic, and reporting is fully electronic, resolving long-standing challenges in notifying taxpayers about filing and payment deadlines.

Awareness campaigns have also been conducted through the Financial and Economic Institute under the Ministry of Finance (Basel Fleyhan), via online seminars and direct messages to taxpayers.

Preparations are underway for a lottery invoice initiative in cooperation with the National Lottery, aimed at encouraging citizens to request invoices.

Additionally, the discussion addressed the ministry’s efforts to refer major defaulters to the Public Financial Prosecution to recover outstanding debts. The mission acknowledged the ministry’s ongoing weekly and monthly follow-ups with taxpayers after deadline expiration, listening to their concerns and swiftly resolving them to encourage compliance.

Results from these measures are expected to become clearly visible in collections during the final quarter of the year.

On transparency and international cooperation, work underway on the Beneficial Ownership file was reviewed, along with practical training for auditors through the Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) program and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), based on real cases from other countries.

It should be noted that joint work with the IMF on measuring the tax gap and solutions to address it, alongside the launch of the Medium-Term Revenue Strategy (MTRS) in mid-April, is ongoing.

Participants highlighted existing challenges, including the impact of recent conditions on several regions, the expansion of the informal cash economy, and the presence of a parallel market. They emphasized that tackling the cash economy and improving compliance are the fundamental pathways to sustainable revenue growth, surpassing any potential gains from higher tax rates. They stressed that “system stability and the use of artificial intelligence in data matching and cleansing will bring a qualitative leap in revenue collection.”

The meeting concluded that compliance is a long-term journey with no immediate results, but the ministry is on the right path. It was agreed to provide the IMF team with all necessary data to quantify the financial impact of these measures.

Last evening, the ministry held a session dedicated to reviewing preliminary results for the 2026 fiscal year and discussing the broad outlines of financial strategies and directions for 2027. Participants stressed the need to strictly maintain fiscal stability and discipline, preventing any deviation from the general budget, thereby protecting achievements made this year and ensuring continuity in upcoming phases.

It was also reaffirmed that a binding financial rule requires any new expenditure to be matched, mandatorily, by clear revenues or funding sources, ensuring balance—no additional spending will be approved without identifying the responsible funding source.

This approach forms part of broader efforts to implement comprehensive reforms in the financial and banking sectors, continue achieving fiscal savings, and control expenditures, thereby reinforcing fiscal balance and supporting the reform agenda.

Technical meetings between the Ministry of Finance and the IMF mission will continue in the coming days, involving relevant departments, directorates, and experts, to delve deeper into figures, forecasts, implementation plans, and reform files, including matters related to electricity, social security, transport, and infrastructure projects.