The meeting of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to make the decision on the revival of the $7 billion program, with an immediate release of $1.2 billion, will be held on 25 August 2022.
This was revealed by State Minister of Finance, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, during a recent meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. The minister also informed that the appointment of the Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will be done within a week.
Responding to Senator Mohsin Aziz’s criticism of the economic policies of the incumbent government, Dr. Aisha said that the government had reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF, which the previous government could not accomplish. She said that the government had managed to fulfill the conditions set by the Fund and expects the Board to approve the revival of the program.
Mohsin Aziz slammed the current government for the economic meltdown, especially, the deprecation of the Pakistani rupee. He said that the rupee stood at Rs. 240 against the dollar. This caused the import prices to rise, shutting down many industries such as Toyota. He demanded that the Finance Minister appear before the committee to explain the turmoil as the rupee continues to fall.
Dr. Aisha responded that the incumbent government had reduced the import bill to less than $5 billion for July, which was going to bring stability to the falling currency. She added that in addition to lowering imports, the government was strengthening the exports. This would result in a higher inflow of dollars compared to the outflow and stop the freefall of the rupee.
She explained that the price of the dollar had increased by 20 percent, and 12 percent of the decline in the value of the Pakistani rupee was caused by this hike. She said that the price of the dollar was affected by the increase in interest rates in the USA, as well as the high demand for the currency.
To bring stability to the currency, Pakistan has arranged $2.3 billion from China and talks are underway with other countries as well. Funding from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank would also be provided soon, she added.
