Islamabad : March 12, 2024 : After coming in of Shahbaz government in Pakistan , an International Monetary Fund (IMF) review mission is scheduled to reach Pakistan on Wednesday. IMF review mission will take input from Pakistani authorities on its commitments attached with the current bailout package approved for Pakistan under an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and at the same time it will negotiate with Pakistan ‘s new government for a fresh loan arrangement .
Pakistan ‘s side will be led by newly appointed Finance minister , Muhammad Aurangzeb . IMF had approved a bailout of $ ,3.5 billion last year under EFF and attacked a series of strings with it for the last caretaker set up headed by prime minister , Shahbaz Sharif . Pakistan was in dire need of IMF bailout package last year when its ailing economy was nosediving due to shrinking forex reserves . Fast depletion of forex reserves had pushed Pakistan into a deep economic crisis in 2022 and it continued to worsen in 2023 as well .
Initially , IMF too seemed less interested in extending its any bailout for Pakistan due to dishonouring of its agreement by Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf(PTI) government in 2021. Seeing no let up in bringing IMF back on the negotiation table for a new financial programme , Shahbaz Sharif , took the role to persuade IMF top officials that Pakistan was interested in completing a fresh bailout programme . He himself held more than one meetings with IMF chief and finally his efforts made IMF move to accept Pakistan’s request for a $ 3 billion EFF programme in 2023 .
Pakistan has received two installments of worth $ 1.9 billion the current EFF and it’s expected to get the final installment of $ 1.1 billion.pakistan is again at the cross road and it needs another programme from IMF to shore off its frail economy. IMF seems inclined to approve a fresh programme for Pakistan, but it will not be a free lunch for Pakistan . It is clear from the recent statements released by the fund that it will approve Pakistan ‘s request for a fresh loan of $ 6 to 8 billion provided Islamabad gets ready for belt tightening to cut down its non developmental expense. Pakistan’s new Finance minister , Mohammad Aurangzeb , confirmed on Tuesday in a statement that Pakistan -IMF talks for a fresh loan will commence in Islamabad from March 14, 2024.
