Washington: As the government seeks another bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global lender has said it is ready to “engage” with Pakistan in the “coming months” to address the country’s “fiscal and external stability”. difficulty”.
“The authorities have expressed interest in further programs that support HPG to overcome the challenges of Pakistan’s financial and external stability and lay the foundation for inclusive growth. Of course, we are ready to participate in program discussions in the coming months,” he said.
Kozack spoke about the new bailout program in response to questions about the state of emergency (SBA) and the vulnerability of Pakistan’s economy.
HPG’s communications director said the lender’s executive board will meet later this month to approve the payment of $1.1 billion owed by the SBA to the Pakistan-HPG staff agreement.
“Growth and confidence continues to recover,” Kozack said. The International Monetary Fund also said it will publish growth forecasts in the coming months as part of its World Economic Outlook.
On March 20, Pakistan and HPG reached a staff-level agreement on the second and final review of SBA’s $3 billion, paving the way for the release of the next tranche from the lender.
A day after the deal was completed, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the new HPG program could last for three years.
“We will receive a new credit loan from HPG in a few days, but we need another program,” said a high-level committee meeting of the Risky Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a military representative. leader March 21.
Following the Prime Minister’s order, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last week that a meeting with HPG to discuss the new loan program would be held in Washington on April 14-15.
Addressing the media at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in Karachi, the minister said that the specifics of the new program would be discussed at a forum and a full talk would be held later in Pakistan.
IMF ready to ‘engage’ with Pakistan on fresh bailout
