IMF’s staff agreement with Pakistan to stabilize the economy: Gerry Rice

July 15, 2022 (MLN): IMF’s staff level agreement with Pakistan will help to stabilize the macroeconomic situation in the country and accelerate structural reforms, said Gerry Rice, Director, Communications Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a press briefing yesterday.

“It's an agreement on a combined seventh and eighth review of the program that we do have with Pakistan that will translate into about $1.17 billion being disbursed to Pakistan,” he noted.

This brings total disbursements from the IMF to Pakistan under the ongoing program to about $4.2 billion.

Gerry Rice said they are hopeful that this will help expand the social safety net to protect the most vulnerable.

IMF, on Wednesday, in an official statement, said that the IMF team, led by Nathan Porter has reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the Pakistan authorities for the conclusion of the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF)-supported program.

Additionally, in order to support program implementation and meet the higher financing needs in FY23, as well as catalyze additional financing, the IMF Board will consider an extension of the EFF until end-June 2023 and an augmentation of access by SDR 720 million that will bring the total access under the EFF to about $7 billion, it added.

Nathan Porter, IMF Mission Chief was of the view that steadfast implementation of the outlined policies, underpinning the SLA for the combined seventh and eighth reviews, will help create the conditions for sustainable and more inclusive growth.

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