IMF delegation to meet Pak Finance Minister to discuss outstanding issues

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 8 (ANI): An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation will meet Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the upcoming Geneva conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan on January 9. The IMF delegation will discuss outstanding issues with Dar, an IMF spokesperson said on Sunday, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported.

The International conference will be co-hosted by the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations.

The conference aims to garner support for the people and government of Pakistan after the 2022 floods in Pakistan. The event will bring together government representatives, leaders from the public, private sectors and civil society.

On Sunday, an IMF spokesperson told Dawn that an IMF delegation is expected to meet with Dar on the sidelines of the Geneva conference to discuss "outstanding issues and the path forward".

This comes two days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that an IMF delegation will come to the country in two to three days to finalise the ninth review of Pakistan's $7bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Sharif made the remarks while addressing Hazara Electric Supply Company's (HESC) inaugural ceremony in Islamabad.

Pakistan in 2019, entered a USD six billion IMF programme which was increased to USD seven billion in 2022. The programme's ninth review, which was supposed to release USD 1.18 billion, is currently pending.

Due to the PML-N-led government's unwillingness to accept certain conditions placed before it by the IMF, the review had earlier been delayed for two months. The disagreements are yet to be resolved, according to The Dawn.

Sharif said that last night, he spoke to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about Pakistan's agreements with the fund. Sharif said he assured Georgieva that the current Pakistan government wished to fulfil the IMF agreement's terms that the previous PTI-led government had broken.

According to Sharif, Pakistan will try its best to fulfil the terms of the IMF agreement.

Shehbaz said he told Georgieva that the "economic situation is in front of you, I can't burden the common man any further [...] She assured me that she understands my difficulty," reported The Dawn.

Sharif said he asked Georgieva to dispatch an IMF delegation to Pakistan in order to complete the IMF programme's ninth review. "She told me that an IMF team will arrive in Pakistan in two to three days," he said. (ANI)