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An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation will meet Pakistan’s finance minister on the sidelines of a meeting in Geneva on Jan. 9 as Pakistan struggles to restart its bailout program, an IMF spokesman said on Sunday.
Lenders have yet to approve the release of a $1.1 billion disbursement scheduled for last November, leaving Pakistan with only enough foreign exchange reserves to cover one month’s worth of imports.
“The IMF delegation is expected to meet Finance Minister (Ishaq) Dar on the sidelines of the Geneva meeting to discuss outstanding issues and the way forward,” an IMF spokesman said in a message to Reuters.
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The Geneva meeting, co-chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Baz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will seek international support for the country hit by last year’s devastating floods.
The floods killed at least 1,700 people and caused billions of dollars in damage to critical infrastructure.
Planning for the timetable and financing of the rebuilding effort have been sticking points in negotiations to pass the Ninth Review, which will free up $1.1 billion in IMF funding and free up other international funding.
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Dar has been critical of the IMF of late, publicly saying the lender had behaved “abnormally” in its dealings with Pakistan, which entered a $7 billion bailout in 2019.
The IMF spokeswoman also said its managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, had a “constructive call” with Sharif about the Geneva meeting and supported Pakistan’s reconstruction efforts.
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