IMF review mission likely to visit Pakistan on Nov 2  

• The IMF review mission will be led by Nathan Porter.
• The review mission will visit Pakistan under standby agreement.
• Economic review will be conducted under $3b standby arrangement. Program.

ISLAMABAD: A review mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Pakistan from November 2 and review the economic performance of the first quarter.

According to IMF representative Esther Perez Ruiz , the review mission will be led by Nathan Porter and the review mission will visit Pakistan under the standby agreement.

Sources said that during the mission’s visit, an economic review will be conducted under the $3 billion Standby Arrangement Program.

The IMF mission will review the economic performance of the first quarter, and the IMF will be briefed on the economic performance from July to September.

According to the sources, if the review mission is satisfied with Pakistan’s actions, it will recommend the release of the next installment of the loan.

In the light of the review mission’s recommendation, the IMF Executive Board will approve the release of $710 million in December.

Also Read

SBP imposes penalty of over Rs.83m on 4 banks for violating instructions

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) imposed fines of over Rs.83.157 million...

Earlier, Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) agreed to a significant increase in the gas tariff in order to fulfill one of the primary requirements specified by the IMF.

The set monthly rates for protected users, who make up 57% of domestic consumers, have increased from Rs10 to Rs400 per month even though their gas prices have not changed.

With effect from November 1, non-protected consumers would be affected by changes in the gas tariff, resulting in a 194 percent increase in their monthly expenditures.

Simultaneously, non-protected users now pay fixed monthly fees that have increased from Rs460 to Rs1,000 for the first category of up to 1.5 hm3 and from Rs460 to Rs2,000 for the second category of 1.5 hm3.

However, the local gas tariff has been increased by the government to 136.4 percent for commercial use, 86.4 percent for export, and 117 percent for non-export use.