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Pakistan

Pakistan, IMF to reach staff-level agreement by next week: Ishaq Dar

  • Says 'anti-Pakistan elements are spreading malicious rumours that Pakistan may default'
Published March 2, 2023

Pakistan is expected to ink a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by next week, said Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar on Thursday.

The senator took to social media, reiterating that Pakistan will not default on its payment obligations.

“Anti-Pakistan elements are spreading malicious rumours that Pakistan may default. This is not only completely false but also belie the facts,” said Dar.

The federal minister shared that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) foreign exchange reserves have been increasing and “are almost $1 billion higher than four weeks ago despite making all external due payments on time”.

Moreover, foreign commercial banks have also started extending facilities to Pakistan, said Dar.

“Our negotiations with IMF are about to conclude and we expect to sign Staff Level Agreement with IMF by next week. All economic indicators are slowly moving in the right direction,” he added.

Dar’s statement comes after the Pakistani rupee slumped nearly 6.6% or Rs19 against the US dollar on Thursday as the cash-strapped country struggles to unlock critical funding from the IMF amid economic turmoil.

The rupee weakened to a new record low of 285.09 per dollar.

The Pakistani economy is passing through one of its most challenging periods as it faces a balance of payments crisis.

The South Asian nation has reserves of just $3.25 billion remaining, barely enough for three weeks of essential imports. While experts are urging the government to revive the stalled IMF programme, policymakers have one eye on inflation and another on political capital as general elections loom.

Already, Islamabad has moved to implement inflation-inducing steps to appease the IMF, including higher energy tariffs and taxation measures to the tune of Rs170 billion. Still, the staff-level agreement between the IMF and Pakistan has not yet been reached.

Additionally, the SBP decided to convene an emergency meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Thursday to deal with the emerging risks to the economy due to uncertain developments. It raised the key interest rate by 300 basis points, taking it to 20%.

Comments

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Arshad Mar 02, 2023 04:27pm
This what he is saying for the last 4 weeks.....
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Tuluka thevidya Mar 02, 2023 04:41pm
That's what they said last month, three weeks ago, two weeks ago and last week
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Shiteistan Mar 02, 2023 05:02pm
Hahahaha. More unfounded pronouncements by the father of all goofs.
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Rizwan Mar 02, 2023 05:42pm
By next week IMF will catch the officials off guards and slap even more anti people conditions. They're being sadistic and trying to kill Pakistan in small incremental doses.
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Waseem Sahito Mar 02, 2023 07:16pm
Hi
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bonce Mar 03, 2023 12:56am
@Rizwan , They are giving us small small doses, so that we die slow slow. We are able for this madicine, when our army and politicians became currupted then this type of madicine required. Since 1947 we are begging money from others although we are nuclear power country.
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KhanRA Mar 03, 2023 03:28am
Everything IMF is demanding is correct. Elites cannot stand it because the IMF is calling for subsidies to them to be ended. So the elites are passing the suffering onto the people, and making it seem like IMF is the problem. IMF is giving us the bitter medicine we need because we have been poisoned by the worlds most useless political class, most corrupt elites, and most power-greedy Army.
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