Govt waits for IMF nod after revising budget

After revising the budget in line with International Monetary Fund’s demands, the government expects a breakthrough announcement from the global lending agency over the next few days to get direly needed bailout funds. “Almost all the irritants between the IMF staff and the Ministry of Finance were addressed hours before the finance minister’s wind-up speech on Saturday,” an official said, adding that the announcement about the successful completion of the ninth review was an IMF’s privilege and just a formality now. The official said it was now up to the IMF’s mission to line up the precise dates for the lender’s executive board approval and disbursement of funds. However, he acknowledged that it was not on the calendar until June 30, when the $6.5 billion Extended Fund Facility agreed in 2019 is set to expire. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also held back-to-back meetings with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Paris last week.