Assurances to IMF

With the finance minister taking a back seat in recent days, it does not exactly inspire confidence that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself has had to step forward and extend assurances to the IMF regarding Pakistan’s intent with regard to resuming the Extended Fund Facility. It is unclear whether Islamabad has finally realised the gravity of the crisis it is in, which is only going to get exponentially worse if Q Block’s assurances regarding forthcoming aid from friendly countries fail to materialise soon. After PM Shehbaz recently spoke to the IMF managing director and “[…] told her about the government’s resolve to complete the terms of IMF’s programme,” a delegation from the lender has agreed to meet Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, being hosted in Geneva on Jan 9 (today), to “discuss outstanding issues”.