IMF contacts key partners directly over fund pledges

With policy-level discussions boiling down primarily to external financing gap, the visiting staff mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has started direct communications with key bilateral partners to confirm their committed support to Pakistan, including rollovers and additional flows, during the current fiscal year. On the first day of policy-level talks, caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar and IMF’s mission chief for Pakistan Nathan Porter led their respective sides that held two detailed sessions on Monday. They were joined by respective teams from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), planning, power and petroleum divisions, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). In background discussions, officials said there appeared to be no major challenge as far as the successful completion of the first quarterly review was concerned and that about $710 million second tranche of $3 billion Standby Arrangement (SBA) would hopefully be disbursed in the first part of December with the approval of the Fund’s executive board, although there were questions here and there.