Pakistan, IMF begin virtual engagement for 9th review of loan program

Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have begun a virtual engagement for ninth review of a $7 billion loan program as the government has shared fiscal data, including flood and related expenditures, with the IMF, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.

A team from the IMF is scheduled to visit Islamabad soon, the ministry said. The government has submitted fiscal data with the Fund, including information on flood-related costs.

The IMF has previously stated that Pakistan’s quick completion of a recovery plan following severe floods was crucial to support negotiations and ongoing financial support from multilateral and bilateral partners.

In a message at the time, IMF resident representative Esther Perez Ruiz stated that “the prompt completion of the recovery plan is crucial to assist the negotiations, together with sustained financial support from multilateral and bilateral partners.”

She added that the IMF staff is continuing discussions with Pakistani authorities over policies to reprioritize and better target support toward humanitarian needs, while accelerating reform efforts to preserve economic and fiscal sustainability.

According to official sources, the government’s policy blunders have caused a delay in setting a date for the beginning of formal negotiations on the 9th review. Talks on the ninth review were earlier anticipated to begin in the final week of the current month.

On November 17, the Finance Ministry announced that as part of the ninth review of Pakistan’s bailout program, Pakistan and the IMF will “expeditiously” wrap up their technical engagement.

Ishaq Dar, the finance minister of Pakistan, and Nathan Porter, the head of the IMF mission in Pakistan, met virtually.

“Engagement at the technical level shall be expeditiously concluded for proceeding with the 9th Review,” a finance ministry statement had said then.

Pakistan is in need of funds to shore up its struggling economy, exacerbated by devastating floods that wiped out much of the country’s agriculture and infrastructure in recent months.