Government is dedicated to resuming IMF programme, says Miftah Ismail

KARACHI: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is “committed to reviving the IMF programme and put Pakistan back on a sustainable growth path.” according to Finance Minister Miftah Ismail.

Ismail had returned from Doha, Qatar, where Islamabad and the fund had been holding discussions from May 18 to 25. Finance Minister Ismail and Nathan Porter, the IMF’s Mission Chief in Pakistan, led their respective delegations.

The minister declared upon his return that the country’s finance delegation had “very useful and constructive discussions with the IMF team over the last week”

Earlier reports stated that the meetings ended in “disappointment,” as Pakistan and the IMF were unable to obtain a staff-level agreement for the reinstatement of the $6 billion programme, contrary to Miftrah’s assurances.

The IMF emphasised the “urgency of concrete policy actions, including removing fuel and energy subsidies” in a handout.

Miftah Ismail in his three-part tweet today said: “We discussed significant slippages in FY 22, caused in part by the fuel subsidies given in February 2022.”

“We discussed targets for FY 23, where, in light of high inflation, declining forex reserves and a large current account deficit, we would need to have a tight monetary policy and consolidate our fiscal position.”