No date given for staff-level agreement with IMF

Central bank Governor Jameel Ahmad said on Wednesday that staff-level agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was “close to finalisation” but shied away from giving a date amid his forecast of a reduction in non-debt creating inflows. The head of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) made a policy statement about the external sector outlook, inflation and economic growth during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. His assessment painted a bleak external sector picture, indicating that the combined inflows, on account of exports and foreign remittances, will be $14 billion to $15 billion less than the budgetary estimates made by the federal government. “The SLA is close to finalisation and it is now a matter of time when it will be announced,” said the governor. The current account deficit (CAD) projection that he gave for this fiscal year, however, was still out of line with the IMF’s forecast. “We will be closing this fiscal year at a CAD of around $7 billion,” said Ahmad – a figure that is $1.2 billion less than the IMF’s forecast but in line with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s assessment.