ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund team made “significant progress” during their discussion on two separate lending programs to Pakistan, the fund said in a statement issued early on Thursday.
An IMF team, led by Iva Petrova, visited Karachi and Islamabad from September 24 to October 8, and held discussions on the second review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), according to the statement.
“The IMF mission and the Pakistani authorities made significant progress toward reaching a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) on the second review under the 37-month Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and on the first review of the 28-month Arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF),” Petrova said, according to the statement.
“Program implementation remains strong, and broadly aligned with the authorities’ commitments,” Petrova said.
The statement, quoting Petrova, stated that significant progress was made in discussions in several areas.
This included “sustaining fiscal consolidation to strengthen the public finances while providing needed flood recovery support; ensuring inflation remains durably within the SBP’s target range by maintaining an appropriately tight and data-dependent monetary policy; restoring the viability of the energy sector by implementing regular tariff adjustments and cost-reducing reforms; and advancing structural reforms to reduce the footprint of the state, strengthen governance and transparency, foster a more competitive business environment, and liberalize commodity markets.”
“Productive discussions were also held on the authorities’ reform agenda to strengthen climate resilience, including the completion of reform measures under the RSF,” Petrova said.
“The IMF team and the authorities will continue policy discussions with a view to settling any outstanding issues,” the statement added.
“The IMF team wants to express its sympathy to those affected by the recent floods, and is grateful to the Pakistani authorities, private sector, and development partners for many fruitful discussions and their hospitality throughout this mission,” Petrova said.
