The technical-level talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the proposed bailout package that were expected to conclude on Friday were extended by another two days.
“We have made good progress in our discussions with the visiting IMF mission. Consultations will continue over the weekend,” a brief statement issued by the Finance Ministry said.
Islamabad and the IMF mission had kicked off technical-level talks on April 29 to sort out details of the proposed bailout package over the next 10 days. The two sides were scheduled to conclude a staff-level agreement on Friday.
A source at the Finance Division told a private news channel that after the successful technical-level talks, Pakistan would sign an agreement with the IMF latest by May 10. The agreement would then be sent to the IMF board, the source added.
The proposed bailout package is expected to be $6-8 billion.
The Finance Ministry had approached the IMF in August 2018 for a bailout package, whereas last month, then finance minister Asad Umar announced that the two sides had – more or less – reached an understanding on a package for bailing out the country’s ailing economy.
“In the next step, the IMF will send its mission to Pakistan in the next few weeks to work out technical details. But in principle, we have reached an agreement,” he had said. However, Umar was removed from the post in a dramatic move and was replaced by Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh – an internationally renowned economist.
Dr Shaikh served as the finance minister from 2010 to 2013 during the PPP government’s rule. During his tenure as the federal minister, Dr Shaikh completed 34 sales transactions worth Rs 300 billion in banking, telecom, electricity and manufacturing sectors.
Subsequently, an IMF employee – Dr Reza Baqir – was appointed as governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to serve for a three-year term. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman was also changed in a sudden move.