Daily Times

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reportedly decided to postpone its next bilateral meeting with Pakistan as it sought details of all the targets missed due to floods before it negotiates the next tranche of an extended fund facility, a private TV channel reported. Previously, a meeting between the financial authorities in Islamabad and the global lender had been scheduled for the third week of November. The meeting has now been postponed though a new date for the meeting was not immediately announced. Before the next round, Pakistan will need to complete its report on the expenditure incurred by the government in flood relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts and all the pre-agreed goals which were met and which were missed.

According to reports, the IMF also wants a fresh target for tax revenue from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). State Minister for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha has said that the damage caused by flooding in the country will be assessed before the next meeting with IMF. She is of the view that Pakistan will also request additional funds from them. There have been multiple informal and formal meetings between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and IMF managing director at various global forums since the August floods where one point was continuously underscored, that the impact of floods was massive.