Go for quick IMF bailout, advises outgoing finance minister

ISLAMABAD: With inflation at about 29 per cent, Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar, in her departure note, is leaving behind a piece of advice to the incoming government to stay the course, be prudent and reach immediately an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new medium-term programme to anchor difficult reforms. Claiming a series of gains over the six-month tenure of the caretaker administration, the outgoing minister said these required to be sustained with the completion of the last IMF review by the new government. “Perhaps more important is that the new government reach an early agreement with the IMF staff on a new medium-term facility, providing an anchor to carry out the difficult reforms”, she wrote in a rare note as part of the Monthly Economic Update & Outlook for (February 2024) of the Ministry of Finance.