Finance ministry, IMF begin second review of Pakistan’s standby arrangement

The finance ministry and a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday kicked off the second and last review of Pakistan’s $3 billion standby arrangement with the body. The ministry had said a day ago the review would be a four-day affair and hoped for a for a successful IMF staff-level agreement after the appraisal, saying that “Pakistan has met all structural benchmarks, qualitative performance criteria and indicative targets for successful completion of the IMF review.” The last review, if successful, will release a tranche of around $1.1 billion, the ministry had said. Islamabad had secured the last-gasped rescue package last summer to avert a sovereign default. A press release issued by the ministry today said a delegation led by IMF mission chief for Pakistan Nathan Porter called on Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb today to conduct the second review.