ISLAMABAD: Secretary Finance Yousaf Khan is expected to go on a prolonged leave, sources revealed.
The Ministry of Finance has remained silent about the outcome of its long negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival of its $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Reports suggest the talks have been inconclusive with the global financial institutions.
Secretary Finance, who had been engaged with the IMF since early this month, has declined comments on the negotiations. Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin has also maintained silence on the outcome of his talks with the IMF staff mission.
IMF’s resident representative in Islamabad Teresa Dabán Sanchez said on Monday that they remained engaged with Pakistani authorities on moving forward. She said the fund was “looking forward to continued discussions with the Pakistani authorities on the set of policies and reforms that could form the basis for the completion of the sixth review under the EFF”.
According to reports, the initial draft of the Memorandum of Financial and Economic Policies (MEFP) with Pakistan sought some explanations before reaching a staff-level agreement. Authorities were reportedly given tough targets to complete including a schedule of tariff and structural adjustments in the gas and power sector, revenue measures, strengthening of regulatory institutions including the central bank to complete transparency in public sector financial flows.
The IMF requires assurances from the government that all conditions will be implemented It has been known that secretary finance took a tough stance on certain occasions during the negotiations mainly related to fiscal adjustments and took more time to evolve a consensus on the pace of adjustments.
The Ministry of Finance has decided not to issue any press statement and will give their response only after the issuance of a statement from the IMF . There is a need to finalise a staff-level agreement with the IMF to remove uncertainties because lingering confusion is causing consistent depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.
