Washington/Islamabad: An International Monetary Fund team is expected Pakistan To begin the next review of the country’s current economic program in early November, a senior official at the global lending institution has said.
In its last review in August, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the 7th and 8th tranches of USD 1.17 billion out of its USD 7 billion Pakistan programme, which was signed in 2019.
The global lender said it would send a mission to Pakistan in November after annual meetings as part of preparations for the next review, said IMF director Middle East and Central Asia, jihad azur Dawn newspaper gave this information on Thursday.
At a media briefing in Washington, Azor extended support to the flood-hit country. “We accelerated some of our disbursements to help Pakistan deal with recent shocks, such as a rise in the prices of food items and commodities,” he said.
“Hopefully, after the annual meetings in November, we will field a mission in Pakistan to start the process for the next review,” Azor said.
“The fund has been very supportive of Pakistan. We have a program with Pakistan which has been scaled up and scaled up in size. This is to help Pakistan deal with a confluence of setbacks, starting with the Covid crisis where we have provided additional resilience,” the IMF official said.
Responding to questions about the fund’s plan for Pakistan in the wake of the economic devastation caused by the recent floods, Azor said the IMF is waiting for the ongoing evaluation of the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. Flooding damages to assess the situation and provide assistance accordingly.
“Based on this assessment, we will update our data and we will also look with officials to see what their priorities are and how the fund can help,” the IMF official said.
The IMF’s regional director spoke out against ‘targeted subsidies’ in the form of regressive incentives, which proved counterproductive and urged Pakistan and other countries to shift limited resources to those who need them.
“It’s something that it’s not, I would say, part of the IMF’s terms, it’s necessary to provide the right protection for those people when inflation is very high,” he said, according to the report.
Pakistan’s crumbling economy is facing a balance of payments crisis, a rising current account deficit and inflation hitting an all-time high of 27 per cent.
The devastating floods, which killed more than 1,600 people and displaced more than 30 million, further exacerbated Pakistan’s foreign exchange crisis, causing an estimated loss of more than US$28 billion to the economy.
In August, New York-based rating agency S&P Global revised Pakistan’s long-term rating from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ in view of rising inflation and tighter global financial conditions.
In its last review in August, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the 7th and 8th tranches of USD 1.17 billion out of its USD 7 billion Pakistan programme, which was signed in 2019.
The global lender said it would send a mission to Pakistan in November after annual meetings as part of preparations for the next review, said IMF director Middle East and Central Asia, jihad azur Dawn newspaper gave this information on Thursday.
At a media briefing in Washington, Azor extended support to the flood-hit country. “We accelerated some of our disbursements to help Pakistan deal with recent shocks, such as a rise in the prices of food items and commodities,” he said.
“Hopefully, after the annual meetings in November, we will field a mission in Pakistan to start the process for the next review,” Azor said.
“The fund has been very supportive of Pakistan. We have a program with Pakistan which has been scaled up and scaled up in size. This is to help Pakistan deal with a confluence of setbacks, starting with the Covid crisis where we have provided additional resilience,” the IMF official said.
Responding to questions about the fund’s plan for Pakistan in the wake of the economic devastation caused by the recent floods, Azor said the IMF is waiting for the ongoing evaluation of the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. Flooding damages to assess the situation and provide assistance accordingly.
“Based on this assessment, we will update our data and we will also look with officials to see what their priorities are and how the fund can help,” the IMF official said.
The IMF’s regional director spoke out against ‘targeted subsidies’ in the form of regressive incentives, which proved counterproductive and urged Pakistan and other countries to shift limited resources to those who need them.
“It’s something that it’s not, I would say, part of the IMF’s terms, it’s necessary to provide the right protection for those people when inflation is very high,” he said, according to the report.
Pakistan’s crumbling economy is facing a balance of payments crisis, a rising current account deficit and inflation hitting an all-time high of 27 per cent.
The devastating floods, which killed more than 1,600 people and displaced more than 30 million, further exacerbated Pakistan’s foreign exchange crisis, causing an estimated loss of more than US$28 billion to the economy.
In August, New York-based rating agency S&P Global revised Pakistan’s long-term rating from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ in view of rising inflation and tighter global financial conditions.