The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has convened its next meeting of its Board of Directors for Pakistan for 28 January for the revival of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
Its updated Executive Board calendar on its website shows that the meeting is scheduled for 28 January and the agenda includes Pakistan – 2021 Article IV Consultation, Sixth Review Under the Extended Arrangement, under the Extended Fund Facility, and Requests for Waivers of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria and Rephasing of Access.
The meeting had been scheduled for 12 January but had later removed Pakistan’s agenda from the Executive Board calendar.
The completion of the review will make SDR 750 million (about $1,059 million) available, bringing the total disbursements under the EFF to about $3,027 million.
To recall, Pakistan and the IMF had reached a staff-level agreement on policies and reforms needed to complete the Sixth Review under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and had issued a press statement on 21 November 2021. The staff-level agreement is subject to approval by the Executive Board following the implementation of prior actions, mainly on fiscal and institutional reforms.
Under those prior actions, the government, through the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021, will make an across-the-board fiscal adjustment during the remaining part of the current fiscal year through cuts in development funds, the withdrawal of tax exemptions worth Rs. 343 billion, a revised tax target of Rs. 6.1 trillion, and an increase in the petroleum levy on petroleum products by Rs. 4 per liter every month.
