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ISLAMABAD, Jan. 31 (PTI) — An IMF mission held talks with Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and other officials on Tuesday on economic policy and reforms in key sectors in the cash-strapped country – a much-anticipated completion of Islamabad. Look forward to the sine qua non for the ninth review of the $7 billion bailout plan.
Pakistan joined a $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program in 2019 under Imran Khan’s government, which was increased to $7 billion last year.
The ninth review of the program is currently awaiting talks between IMF officials and the government to release $1.18 billion.
But the IMF suspended disbursements in November last year after Pakistan failed to make more progress on fiscal consolidation amid the country’s political turmoil.
A high-level delegation led by Nathan Porter, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, met Finance Minister Dahl and other officials from the Ministry of Finance here, Dawn reported.
In a press release issued after the meeting, the ministry said Dar briefed the delegation on the government’s fiscal and economic reforms in several key areas, including energy and measures to bridge the fiscal gap and stabilize the exchange rate.
Dahl informed the IMF mission that reforms were being introduced in the power sector and that “a high-level committee had been formed to devise ways to offset the threat of circular debt in the gas sector”, the report said.
The report, citing a press release, said the finance minister assured IMF officials that Pakistan would complete the ongoing program and supported the missions to work together to reach an agreement to complete the Ninth Review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
It added that IMF mission chief Porter expressed confidence that Pakistan would meet the requirements to complete the review.
Faced with a severe balance-of-payments crisis, Pakistan is desperate for much-needed external financing, with its foreign exchange reserves plummeting to $3.68 billion, barely enough to sustain imports for three weeks.
Pakistan raised petrol and diesel prices by 35 rupees each on Sunday, in another shock to the country’s inflation-stricken population.
After the hike, petrol prices are set at Rs 249.80 a liter, high-speed diesel at Rs 262.80, kerosene at Rs 189.83 a liter and gas diesel at Rs 187 a liter.
The Pakistani currency depreciated against the dollar on Tuesday, closing at 267.89 rupees.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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