The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it was working towards holding a board meeting with Pakistani authorities before a financing programme expires at the end of June.
IMF mission chief for Pakistan Nathan Porter made the statement, adding that the monetary body was keeping an eye on Islamabad’s budget for the FY24.
“This engagement will focus on the restoration of foreign exchange proper market functioning, the passage of a FY24 budget consistent with programme goals, and adequate financing,” said Porter.
“Overcoming the present economic and financial challenges would require sustained policy efforts and reforms for Pakistan to regain strong and inclusive private-led growth.”
Notably, conducting a board meeting on the review of the programme would require a prior staff-level agreement. However, the deal has been delayed since November last year, the longest delay since at least 2008.
Pakistan willing to share budget details
Earlier, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the government was willing to share details of the upcoming budget with the IMF to unlock stalled funds.
“They have asked for some more things again, we are ready to give that too, they say that give us budget details, we will give it to them,” Dar was quoted as saying by Geo TV.
Pakistan has been negotiating the release of a $1.1 billion tranche of a $6.5 billion bailout package from the IMF to avoid defaulting. Despite securing financing from UAE and Saudi Arabia to meet the pre-conditions laid down by the monetary body, it hasn’t been able to lay its hands on the payout.
The cash-strapped country has been looking to secure the IMF package for a long time. According to a report by the news agency Reuters early Monday, the central bank’s foreign reserves have fallen as low as to cover barely a month of controlled imports. The Pakistani economy has slowed, with an estimated 0.29% GDP growth for 2022-2023. However, the international lender, for the major part, remained reluctant to open its wallet.
Pakistan, though, received a booster shot of confidence in April when UAE confirmed that it would provide a $1 billion loan to Islamabad. Similarly, Saudi Arabia assured that it would provide $2 billion in loan amount to the distressed country.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the time said it was Army Chief General Asim Munir who had managed to secure bilateral financing from the UAE and Saudi Arabia to meet the pre-condition.
“Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir has contributed to the government’s efforts to secure funds from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Hopefully the IMF will now have no excuse to delay the agreement (to release a tranche of USD 1.1 billion),” said Sharif.
The statement by Sharif came in stark contrast to the announcement made by the Pakistani Army wherein it said that General Munir had no role in the country’s politics.
(With inputs from agencies)
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