WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday confirmed that breakthrough has been achieved in talks with Pakistan for the revival of the $6 billion loan facility stalled due to policy breaches by the previous government.
In a statement, IMF Resident Chief Esther Perez Ruiz said, “discussions between the IMF staff and the authorities on policies to strengthen macroeconomic stability in the coming year continue, and important progress has been made over the FY23 budget.”
The latest development comes a day after Federal Minister for Revenue and Finance Miftah Ismail had indicated the revival of the agreement with IMF within a day or two.
“I am very hopeful that the IMF programme will be revived soon,” the finance minister had said while speaking to journalists.
Following the downward trend of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar, the recent agreement with the global lender was of utmost importance to steer the country out of the ongoing economic crisis.
To meet the conditions of the IMF, the government had to take some tough measures, such as banning the import of certain items and removing subsidies that resulted in an unprecedented hike in POL [petrol, oil, lubricants].
