An International Monetary Fund mission will visit Pakistan later this month to discuss the stalled ninth review of the country’s current funding programme, the lender’s resident representative said on Thursday. “At the request of the authorities, an in-person Fund mission is scheduled to visit Islamabad January 31st – February 9th to continue the discussions under the ninth EFF review,” Esther Ruiz Perez said in a message to Reuters. The development came a day after Pakistan assured the United States that it remained committed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, as the country’s reserves slipped to just half a month import cover after making a fresh debt repayment of $500 million. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar met Robert Kaproth, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of the Treasury for Asia, according to an official announcement by the Ministry of Finance. During the meeting both sides discussed the status of the IMF programme. Dar briefed the US official about the measures that Pakistan was taking to revive the IMF programme.
The IMF has asked Pakistan to implement a market-based exchange rate, lift restrictions on imports, increase taxes and electricity prices. However, so far, the government has not yet taken any of these measures and is waiting for a formal engagement with the global lender before kicking in these actions. Pakistan entered a $6 billion IMF programme in 2019, which was increased to $7 billion earlier this year. The programme’s 9th review is currently pending, with remote talks held between IMF officials and the government for the release of $1.18 billion. Pakistan and IMF had a round of engagement on November 18 but could not finalise a schedule for formal talks on the overdue ninth review. The talks, originally due in the last week of October, were rescheduled to Nov 3 and then kept on facing delays following gaps in estimates by the two sides.
