Talks with IMF on ninth review delayed further

Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had another round of engagement on Thursday but could not finalise a schedule for formal talks on the overdue ninth review of a $7 billion loan programme amid a lack of clarity on flood-related financial requirements for this fiscal year and declining revenue stream in the wake of import controls. “Dates for the ninth review could not be finalised,” a senior official told Dawn after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had an online meeting with IMF’s mission chief to Pakistan, Nathan Porter, on Thursday. Mr Dar reiterated the government’s commitment to “successfully completing the IMF programme”, the finance ministry said in a statement, apparently to pacify jittery markets. The talks, originally due in the last week of October, were rescheduled to Nov 3 and then kept on facing delays following gaps in estimates by the two sides.