Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday met International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva over the phone, in which she expressed hope that a decision would be taken in a day or two regarding the issuance of the next tranche by the lender.
Pakistan’s agreement with the IMF under the 2019 Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is set to expire on June 30, but the country’s ninth review is pending for the release of the $1.2 billion tranche.
On the phone, Georgieva assured the Prime Minister that the IMF also wants to improve the economic situation of Pakistan. According to a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), he directed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and his team to complete the IMF program ahead of his meetings with the Prime Minister in Paris. Acknowledged the actions of
Shahbaz, in response, assured the IMF MD that his government is committed to achieving its goal of improving the country’s economic situation through joint efforts and hoped for a response from the fund in the coming days.
The IMF tranche was expected to be released in October last year but has been in balance for the past eight months as the fund claims the country has yet to meet key conditions.
As the deadline for the program approaches, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government has stepped up efforts to ensure the release of the bailout package. Back-to-back meetings were held on the sidelines of the New Global Financial Pact Summit during the Prime Minister’s visit to Paris last week.
According to finance ministry sources, however, the only major positive outcome of these meetings was that officials in Islamabad went back to the drawing board and resumed discussions with IMF staff to bridge differences.
Pakistani officials familiar with the talks told JEE News that the IMF managing director immediately asked Prime Minister Shehbaz for a board meeting date to approve the 9th review and the release of the third and final tranche of the $1.2 billion loan. did not accept the demand immediately.
Instead, he emphasized that all policy matters should be resolved at the IMF staff level, the officials added.
However, after revising the budget in line with the fund’s demands, the PML-N government has renewed hope and expects progress towards securing the loan and obtaining the Memorandum for Economic and Fiscal Policy (MEFP). keeps
Sources said a staff-level agreement and an IMF board meeting are likely soon after the approval of the MEFP and the IMF’s response to the budget is expected soon.
He further said that Pakistan requested the IMF to relax the condition of external financing of $6.5 billion. In return for leniency, the government offered to impose more taxes.
