IMF ‘very receptive’ in terms of agreeing to consider larger, longer programme: finance minister

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has stated that Pakistan is on track to secure a new loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), adding that the money lender had been “very receptive in terms of agreeing to consider a larger, longer programme”. He made the remarks in an interview with The National published on Monday. The finance minister and his team were in Washington last week to attend the spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. They also conducted a series of bilateral meetings with visiting finance ministers, heads of financial institutions, and senior US officials. In a meeting with the IMF chief and some members of its board of governors, Aurangzeb had reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to carry out “aggressive reforms” to stabilise its economy.