Nov 28(ABC): Negotiations over the next tranche in the extended fund facility for Pakistan by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have yet to be finalized with Islamabad’s flood recovery plan the main sticking point.
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had decided to postpone its next bilateral meeting with Pakistan as it sought greater details on expenditures incurred by the government on account of flood relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.
IMF’s Resident Representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz told that the discussions on policies for better targeted support are ongoing.
“IMF staff continue discussions with the Pakistani authorities over policies to reprioritize and better target support toward humanitarian and rehabilitation needs,” she said.
While the Finance Ministry is working on finalizing the recovery plan, she emphasized that meeting humanitarian and rehabilitation needs is a priority, which the IMF had also declared as necessary for securing support from international financial institutions and countries.
Discussing the Ninth Economic Review with the IMF, she said that a timely completion of the recovery plan is necessary for the next round of negotiations.
“The timely finalization of the recovery plan is essential to support the discussions, along with continuing financial support from multilateral and bilateral partners.”
She added that they were also accelerating reform efforts to preserve macroeconomic and fiscal sustainability in Pakistan.
Discussions with IMF are scheduled to commence at the end of November.
