- Policy-level talks will continue till November 15.
- The staff level agreement will be finalized during the talks.
- Sources say that Pakistan has fulfilled all the conditions.
Pakistan is optimistic about the successful conclusion of the first International Monetary Fund (IMF) review of the $3 billion Standby Arrangement (SBA) as talks between the two sides have entered the final stages, senior sources said.
Sources said policy-level talks between the IMF and Pakistani officials began today (Monday) and will continue till November 15.
The Pakistani delegation was led by Interim Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar and included State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jamil Ahmed, Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Malik Amjad Zubair Tiwan and officials from the Finance and Energy ministries. Nathan Porter was leading the IMF team during the talks.
Finance Ministry sources said the IMF delegation presented its recommendations and demands during today’s session. Economic data was shared with the international lender’s team in technical level talks.
Sources related to the matter claim that Pakistan has fulfilled all the conditions of IMF.
Sources said the staff-level agreement will be finalized during the ongoing policy-level talks, adding that after successful completion of the first review, around $700 million will be released to Pakistan.
The Finance Ministry had said earlier this month that the IMF review mission had appreciated the government’s progress towards economic recovery.
The IMF loan program approved in July helped prevent a sovereign debt default. Under the $3 billion SBA, Pakistan received $1.2 billion from the IMF as the first tranche in July – the remaining amount is subject to two reviews.
Akhtar also ruled out the possibility of making any request to the IMF to extend the deadline or size of the SBA program.
