Mission will discuss the stalled ninth review of Pakistan\u2019s current funding programme: IMF
\n Islamabad
\nAn International Monetary Fund mission will visit Pakistan later this month to discuss the stalled ninth review of the country\u2019s current funding programme, the lender\u2019s resident representative said on Thursday.
\n\u201cAt the request of the authorities, an in-person Fund mission is scheduled to visit Islamabad January 31st – February 9th to continue the discussions under the ninth EFF review,\u201d Esther Ruiz Perez said in a message to Reuters.
\nThe development came a day after Pakistan assured the United States that it remained committed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, as the country\u2019s reserves slipped to just half a month import cover after making a fresh debt repayment of $500 million.
\nFinance Minister Ishaq Dar met Robert Kaproth, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of the Treasury for Asia, according to an official announcement by the Ministry of Finance.
\nDuring the meeting both sides discussed the status of the IMF programme. Dar briefed the US official about the measures that Pakistan was taking to revive the IMF programme.
\nThe IMF has asked Pakistan to implement a market-based exchange rate, lift restrictions on imports, increase taxes and electricity prices.
\nHowever, so far, the government has not yet taken any of these measures and is waiting for a formal engagement with the global lender before kicking in these actions.
\nPakistan entered a $6 billion IMF programme in 2019, which was increased to $7 billion earlier this year. The programme\u2019s 9th review is currently pending, with remote talks held between IMF officials and the government for the release of $1.18 billion.
\nPakistan and IMF had a round of engagement on November 18 but could not finalise a schedule for formal talks on the overdue ninth review.
\nThe talks, originally due in the last week of October, were rescheduled to Nov 3 and then kept on facing delays following gaps in estimates by the two sides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mission will discuss the stalled ninth review of Pakistan\u2019s current funding programme: IMF Islamabad An International Monetary Fund mission will visit Pakistan later this month to discuss the stalled ninth review of the country\u2019s current funding programme, the lender\u2019s resident representative said on Thursday. \u201cAt the request of the authorities, an in-person Fund mission is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-309917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n