By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The chances of Pakistan doing a deal with the International Monetary Fund have grown since a meeting in Islamabad due this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday, adding that measures needed to pull the economy out of the unparalleled crisis are likely to bring even more pain.
The IMF on Thursday said its mission would visit Pakistan on January 31 to discuss the stalled ninth review of a bailout programme. Pakistan’s ninth review of staff-level talks with the IMF for the release of its next tranche has been delayed since September because of the inability of both sides to strike a consensus on several issues.
The country entered the $6 billion IMF programme in 2019, which was raised to $7 billion in 2022. The country will get $1.18 billion after the programme’s ninth review.
“I am very hopeful that we will sign a deal with the IMF this month and will be able to overcome our [economic] difficulties,” PM Sharif said while addressing an event in Islamabad. “After that, our multilateral and bilateral institutions will also be able to work alongside the government.”
Sharif’s remarks came as the rupee fell another 2.73 percent against the dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. The rupee closed at 262.6 per dollar in the interbank market, after a 9.61 percent slump on Thursday, which was its biggest single-day dip.
“These are tough times… without exaggeration, I can say that the conditions were very tough when we formed a government [in April last year],” Sharif said. “But by the mercy of God, this coalition setup was able to work day and night [for the betterment of the country]. I can say with certainty that we will successfully come out of this [economic crisis] situation.”
The prime minister said the government had created a priority list of imports in view of the forex situation so that the country could continue to function.
“We have made a list of priorities in view of our foreign reserves,” he said. “Exporters, food items, and medicines, among other items without which a country cannot [survive], will continue to be imported.”
Left with only $3.68 billion in foreign exchange reserves, Pakistan barely has enough to cover three weeks of imports.
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