The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission will arrive in Islamabad on Thursday for the economic review of Pakistan’s $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) and disbursement of the third and final loan tranche of $1.1 billion, Finance Ministry sources told ProPakistani.
Talks will be held from March 14 to March 18. Besides the final tranche under ongoing SBA, both sides are tipped to discuss the possibility of expanding Pakistan’s 3-year Extended Fund Facility from $6 billion to $8 billion by incorporating climate finance.
During their visit, the IMF mission will engage in discussions with officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan, Planning Commission, and Petroleum Division. Sources said the talks will largely focus on devising a new and bigger loan program.
This comes after new federal minister for Finance and Revenue Mohammad Aurangzeb earlier said discussions between Islamabad and IMF could kick off this week.
He had expressed optimism over talks with the IMF staff.
Notably, the IMF has outlined eight contingent measures for the FBR to implement in case of revenue shortfalls. One of these measures is meeting the March tax target of Rs. 890 billion or risk forcing the IMF’s hand in the shape of additional taxation measures.
