The announcement was made by Ernesto Ramirez Rig, head of the IMF`s pakistan mission, after holding a series of talks over the past two weeks with Pakistani adviser to the prime minister for finance and revenue Hafeez Shaikh, governor of Pakistan`s state bank Reza Baqir and finance minister Naveed Kamran Baloch. „Following discussions between International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and the Pakistani authorities in Islamabad from February 3 to 13 (see Press Release No. 20/51), which have continued in recent days from IMF headquarters, IMF staff and the Pakistani authorities have reached agreement at the staff level on the policies and reforms needed to carry out the second review of the IMF`s reform of the authorities, supported by the EFF. to finish. The agreement is subject to IMF management approval and review by the Executive Board, expected in early April. The final review will allow for the disbursement of SDRs 328 million (about $450 million). „After months of discussions and negotiations, an agreement has been reached at the staff level between Pakistan and the IMF,“ he told PTV News. But as inflation exceeded 8 percent, the rupee lost a third of its value last year, and foreign exchange reserves were barely sufficient to cover two months of exports, she was forced to turn to the IMF. The deal was reached after marathons that began on April 29. Initially, the agreement was supposed to be reached before May 7, but it was postponed until May 10. He said the staff-level deal, which has yet to be approved by the IMF Executive Board in Washington, would show that effective reforms were underway in Pakistan. Islamabad and an IMF mission began discussions at the technical level on April 29 to clarify the details of the proposed bailout in the next 10 days. The two sides were due to reach an agreement at the staff level on Friday, but talks were extended until the weekend, with the finance ministry reporting „good progress“ in the talks.
Baqir served as head of the IMF in Egypt before moving to Pakistan. He would be, along with Shaikh, one of the two signatories of the final agreement with the IMF. But analysts have called an IMF bailout inevitable, with Pakistan also facing a growing fiscal crisis ahead of the annual review of fiscal spending for the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1. ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan has reached an „agreement in principle“ with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a bailout and expects to formally secure a bailout earlier this month, a Pakistani minister said on Monday. The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who took power in August, has received temporary relief from close allies like China and Saudi Arabia, with short-term loans worth more than $10 billion, to buffer foreign exchange reserves and reduce pressure on the country`s current account. „Pakistan faces a challenging economic environment, with low growth, rising inflation, high debt and a weak external position,“ the IMF said in a statement overturning the framework agreement. Asked whether Pakistan had agreed under the agreement to communicate the terms, Mr. Shaikh said that there were many things desired by the Fund, which the Government had already considered to be in the interest of the country; These include aligning spending with resources, improving the functioning of state-owned enterprises, reducing subsidies to the wealthy classes, and taxing the wealthy segments.
The joint-staff-level agreement now awaits formal approval from the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, as quoted as dawn News, an adviser to the prime minister of finance, revenue and economy, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. Pakistan on Sunday reached an agreement with the IMF on a bailout that will allow the financially troubled country to receive $6 billion over three years, according to a senior official. . . .