The Interna-tional Monetary Fund (IMF) has not received any request for a new loan programme from the economic managers of the country, it has been learnt. Well-placed sources told Business Recorder here on Friday that Pakistan had not requested a new loan from the IMF so far, so there had been no negotiations or discussion of terms and conditions.
"Pakistan is always engaged in negotiations with donors like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and IMF but the negotiations about a fresh loan under IMF have not started yet", sources said. Pakistan has to repay 7.2 billion dollars to IMF under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) programme that went off-track in June 2010, and stayed off-track until it expired at end-September 2011. Pakistan has to repay as per schedule to the Fund even if it goes for a new loan programme. Since April 1, 2009 (after the approval of the SBA for Pakistan), IMF members are expected to make scheduled payments to the IMF of principal and interest on an "obligation" basis. This approach has effectively lengthened grace periods and simplified the repayment schedules of Fund financing.
"The country has to repay 1.4 billion dollars to the IMF in calendar year 2012 while in the year 2013, the country has to repay 2.362 billion SDR, 1.230 billion SDR in 2014 and 193 million SDR in 2015", sources added. Sources disclosed "the country needs a fresh loan of 3.5-5 billion dollars from IMF to repay its loan to the Fund".
IMF has already said in the country report of Pakistan dated February 2012, "At present, macroeconomic policies are overly expansionary and fundamental reforms to resolve the economy's structural problems are not being tackled well. As a result, the economy is increasingly vulnerable, with weak growth, persistent inflation, rising balance-of payments pressures, and few buffers to absorb shocks. And with... parliamentary elections in 2013, the political climate is not conducive to reform.... Without a fundamental policy correction, it will be difficult for Pakistan to maintain macroeconomic stability, raise living standards, and durably reduce poverty".
Comments
Comments are closed.