By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Jihad Azour, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Middle East and Central Asia Director, expressed confidence on Wednesday that Pakistan would soon sign a staff-level agreement with the international lender following board approval.
According to a statement issued by the Finance Division, Azour made the remarks during the IMF’s spring meeting in Washington, which was attended virtually by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar from Islamabad.
The meeting provided an opportunity for Pakistan to advocate for the renewal of its $6.5 billion bailout package agreed upon in 2019, of which the government has been seeking a tranche of $1.1bn since February.
“He hoped that Pakistan would continue to make progress on reforms in various sectors and complete the IMF program on time and the IMF would play a positive role in bringing economic stability to the country,” the government statement quoted Azour as saying.
“Jihad Azour… expressed his confidence that Staff Level Agreement will be signed soon, which to be followed by the IMF Board’s approval.”
In response, Minister Dar, who had canceled his trip to the US due to political turmoil in the country, assured the IMF that the government was fully committed to fulfilling its obligations.
Dar informed the IMF team that all prior actions for the loan program’s ninth review had been completed as agreed with the IMF.
During the meeting, discussions focused on the progress of the ongoing IMF program, particularly the talks held between the two sides when an IMF mission visited Pakistan earlier this year and the implementation of prior actions for the release of the package’s final tranche.
Dar also informed the IMF team about the economic challenges facing Pakistan and the government’s vision for achieving macroeconomic stability in the country.
The IMF tranche is critical for Pakistan as central bank reserves have fallen to critical levels, barely enough for four weeks of imports. Securing the tranche will also unlock other external financing avenues and help Pakistan avert a default on its obligations.
Pakistan is waiting for confirmation of an additional $1 billion in deposits from the United Arab Emirates before a staff-level agreement can be reached with the IMF.
According to media reports, the finance ministry had made high-level contacts with UAE authorities, and the processing of the $1 billion deposit was underway.
After canceling his visit to the US, Dar assured the nation that the IMF deal was on track and that the government had already completed all necessary requirements to conclude the ninth review of the loan program.
Last month, he had stated that financing commitments from friendly countries were the last hurdle in securing the IMF deal, with the Fund having subsequently received a commitment from Saudi Arabia regarding funding for Pakistan.
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