The Ministry of Finance has clarified that negotiations under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) seventh review are continuing as planned and the two sides remain engaged on a regular basis at a technical level through virtual meetings and data sharing.
This comes after sections of the media recently began speculating about the ongoing seventh review under the global lender’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The ministry said that the recent negotiations focused on the agreed targets between the two sides and the recently announced relief and industrial promotion packages. There is a consensus that all the targets that were agreed upon at the end of December have been achieved, while the progress on the other actions mentioned in the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) in the sixth review was satisfactory.
Complete details of the relief package, including financing options, have been shared with the IMF and general comprehension has been developed but the IMF has indicated the need for more discussions on the industrial promotion package over the next few days. An understanding is expected to be developed on the package subsequent to these discussions.
The completion of the technical talks will be followed by deliberations on the text of the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) for the seventh review. The government is confident that the finalization of the MEFP will lead to a meeting of the IMF Board by the end of April, and is committed to successfully completing the IMF program in September.
The Minister of Finance, Shaukat Tarin, had mentioned a few days ago that a staff-level agreement with the IMF was imminent this week. He had stated that the lender had requested details for the financing of the Prime Minister’s Relief Package, which included freezing the prices of diesel, petrol, and electricity until June 2022.
“There are no issues. We have given them details as to where the funds would come from,” he said.
