IMF and Pakistan Make Progress Toward Reaching a Staff-Level Agreement

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Iva Petrova concluded a two-week visit to Karachi and Islamabad on Wednesday, reporting “significant progress” toward a staff-level agreement on the next tranche of Pakistan’s loan program.

The talks, which ran from September 24 to October 8, covered the second review of Pakistan’s 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of the 28-month Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

Ms. Petrova issued the following statement:

“The IMF mission and the Pakistani authorities made significant progress toward reaching a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) on the second review under the 37-month Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and on the first review of the 28-month Arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

Petrova said program implementation remains strong and broadly in line with the government’s commitments.

“Program implementation remains strong, and broadly aligned with the authorities’ commitments. Significant progress was made in the discussions in several areas, including sustaining fiscal consolidation to strengthen the public finances while providing needed flood recovery support; ensuring inflation remains durably within the SBP’s target range by maintaining an appropriately tight and data-dependent monetary policy; restoring the viability of the energy sector by implementing regular tariff adjustments and cost-reducing reforms; and advancing structural reforms to reduce the footprint of the state, strengthen governance and transparency, foster a more competitive business environment, and liberalize commodity markets. Productive discussions were also held on the authorities’ reform agenda to strengthen climate resilience, including the completion of reform measures under the RSF,” Petrova stated.

Key areas of progress included fiscal consolidation to strengthen public finances while supporting flood recovery, keeping inflation within the central bank’s target range through tight, data-driven monetary policy, and restoring the energy sector’s viability with regular tariff adjustments and cost-cutting reforms, read the statement.

The IMF also noted advances in structural reforms aimed at reducing the state’s footprint, improving governance and transparency, and fostering a more competitive business environment.

Discussions also addressed Pakistan’s climate resilience agenda, with the IMF noting completion of key reform measures under the RSF.

The IMF and Pakistani authorities will continue policy talks to resolve any outstanding issues before finalizing a staff-level agreement.

The IMF team expressed sympathy for those affected by recent floods and thanked Pakistani officials, the private sector, and development partners for their cooperation and hospitality during the mission.

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An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Iva Petrova concluded a two-week visit to Karachi and Islamabad on Wednesday,… Read More

The post IMF and Pakistan Make Progress Toward Reaching a Staff-Level Agreement appeared first on ProPakistani.