ISLAMABAD
As the agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suffers a long-standing stalemate, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday asked US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Bloom to play his role in helping the agreement inked.
He expressed his thoughts at a meeting with the ambassador, which underscored the exchange of thoughts on matters of mutual interest. According to a press statement issued after the meeting, Finance Minister Senator welcomed Donald Blome and shared deep rooted historic and durable bilateral relations with the United States on economic and trade fronts.
The Finance Minister briefed the envoy about the economic outlook of the country and the challenges being faced by the country. He further shared the pragmatic policy decisions being taken by the government in order to arrest the economic decline and to steer the economy towards a positive trajectory leading to economic stability and growth.
The Finance Minister also informed the envoy on the progress in talks held with the IMF and reiterated the commitment of the government to complete the program. Donald Blome expressed confidence on the policies and programmes of the government being taken for economic sustainability of the country and socio-economic uplift of the masses.
He extended his support to further promote bilateral economic, investment and trade relations between both the countries. The two sides also exchanged views on matters of common interest and showed their interest in enhancing the existing bilateral relations between both countries. They also talked about various economic avenues in which both countries can further strengthen their ties.
Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar thanked the US Ambassador and reiterated the desire of the government to further deepen bilateral trade and investment ties with the USA. Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also confirmed that it has received confirmation from Saudi Arabia on $2 billion in additional deposits to Pakistan.
Islamabad has been negotiating with the IMF since the end of January for the release of $1.1 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package agreed upon in 2019. To unlock the funding, the government has cut back on subsidies, removed an artificial cap on the exchange rate, added taxes and raised fuel prices.
Sources within the finance ministry confirmed that the lender had informed the Pakistani authorities about the development. It may be noted that the IMF had demanded of the Pakistani government to get a written guarantee from the friendly countries for the deposit. Saudi Arabia and UAE had sought some time to assure the IMF regarding the deposit.
After commitment from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan is now looking towards the UAE to secure another $1 billion deposit in order to reach the staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF. Mr Dar is likely to make a stopover in the UAE on his way to the US where he would hold talks on the revival of the loan deal.
Earlier, the IMF’s resident representative for Pakistan said the country has a few more tasks to complete to meet requirements for a $6.5 billion bailout.
