January 27, 2023 (MLN): In a major breakthrough, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Thursday that it will send a staff mission to Pakistan on January 31 to complete talks on the ninth quarterly review of a funding program that has been pending for four months.
The Fund’s resident representative in Islamabad, Esther Perez Ruiz, stated that the mission will focus on policies to restore domestic and external sustainability in Pakistan, including measures to strengthen the country’s fiscal position and support those affected by floods.
The mission will also work to restore the viability of the power sector and re-establish the proper functioning of the foreign exchange market.
This positive development comes right after the sharp devaluation of PKR wherein the local unit has witnessed a historic decline of over 24 rupees in a single session on Thursday.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had approved a funding program for Pakistan worth $6 billion in 2019, which was later increased to $7 billion the following year.
The ninth review of this program, which would release an additional $1.18 billion, has been on hold for the past four months.
The delay was due to the previous government led by PML-N being unwilling to accept certain conditions set by the IMF, and these disagreements have yet to be resolved.
However, the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, has stated that the government is now ready to accept the IMF’s demanding conditions in order to revive the loan program.
