IMF team meets PTI leadership at Zaman Park in Lahore

Former finance minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hammad Azhar said on Friday that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team visited party chief Imran Khan at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore today, where the two sides discussed a recent staff-level agreement between Pakistan and the global lender for the disbursement of $3 billion under a standby arrangement.

“The IMF team called upon [PTI] chairman Imran Khan at his residence today”, Azhar tweeted. He noted that the IMF resident representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz visited Zaman Park for the meeting while the IMF mission chief for Pakistan Nathan Porter joined virtually from Washington.

Azhar added the PTI team included him, Imran, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Shaukat Tarin, Omar Ayub Khan, Sania Nishtar, Shibli Faraz, Taimur Jhagra and Muzammil Aslam.

The meeting lasted for more than an hour, during which “discussions took place around the staff-level agreement that IMF has reached with the Government of Pakistan for a nine-month $3 billion standby arrangement and in this context, we support the overall objectives and key policies”, the PTI leader said.

“We welcome the SBA (standby arrangement) to preserve macroeconomic stability by anchoring external financing and sound policies ahead of the national elections due in the fall of this year and until a new government is formed.

“We wish to stress the importance of programmes to protect the lower-income segments of the population from high inflation,” he added.

Azhar further stated that the PTI considered political stability and the rule of law as integral to the economic stability of Pakistan.

“Following free, fair, and timely elections as per the Constitution, a new government mandated by the people will initiate reforms and engage on a longer-term basis with multilateral institutions to further economic transformation, higher and more inclusive growth,” he said.

He also shared that Imran would shortly deliver an address regarding the matter.

The development comes hours after the IMF team said it would meet major political parties in Pakistan to seek assurances of their support for the key objective of the new deal.

“The IMF staff are in the process of meeting with representatives of the major political parties in Pakistan, including PML-N, PPP, and PTI, to seek assurances of their support for the key objectives and policies under a new IMF-supported program ahead of the approaching national elections,” said Esther Perez Ruiz in a statement to Business Recorder on Friday.

The IMF Executive Board is set to take up Pakistan’s SBA – announced after a staff-level agreement last week – in its meeting on July 12.

Earlier, Imran had also said he would meet an IMF delegation later today. He revealed this during a court hearing about May 9 riots in Lahore today. Upon being asked to join the investigation in the case at 4 pm today, the former prime minister said he was unavailable to join the probe as he was scheduled to meet with a delegation from the IMF.

IMF team meets PPP

In addition to the PTI, an IMF team also met the PPP today.

Commerce Minister and PPP leader Naveed Qamar said earlier today that the IMF’s resident representative called on the party’s finance team — himself and Saleem Mandviwala — to discuss the standby agreement.

“[The] PPP agreed to support the programme in the larger national interest,” he added.

Separately, a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce said Qamar acknowledged the significance of the standby agreement in addressing Pakistan’s economic concerns.

The minister further reiterated the PPP’s commitment to working in harmony with the IMF to ensure the successful implementation of the program.

On June 29, the IMF and Pakistan reached a standby arrangement to ease the country’s financial crisis. The nine-month SBA, if approved, will bring $3bn, or 111pc of Pakistan’s IMF quota.

The SBA, subject to the IMF board approval, offers much-needed relief to a country still grappling with a severe balance of payments crisis and declining foreign exchange reserves.