Pakistan govt. ready to meet all IMF demands to revive bailout programme: report

Cash-strapped Pakistan revived a stalled $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme last year

The Pakistan government has requested the IMF to send its mission to the country at the earliest, preferably next week, to conclude a long-awaited agreement to revive the bailout programme, as it conveyed its willingness to accept all the four major conditions set by the global lender, according to a media report.

Cash-strapped Pakistan revived a stalled $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme last year which was initially agreed upon in 2019 but is finding it hard to meet the tough conditions of the Washington-based global lender. There are reports that the IMF may not release more funds under the programme until the pledges made by the government are met.

The IMF board in August approved the seventh and eighth reviews of Pakistan's bailout programme, allowing for a release of over $1.1 billion.

“We have completed our workings on all four areas on the basis of our interactions on the sidelines of the Geneva conference,” a senior member of the government told the Dawn newspaper after weeklong consultations including at least two sessions presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif through a video link from Lahore.

“We are ready to move ahead with reforms committed under the programme and we plan to implement all decisions during the course of talks with the proposed IMF mission,” the official said.

Secretary Finance Hamed Yaqoob Shaikh has formally written to the IMF mission chief to visit Pakistan.

Another participant said that the IMF bailout package was a panacea for all cha­l­­lenges Pakistan faced today and there was no other exit route from default, which was the Fund mission had been re­­quested to sit across the table and finalise everything.