IMF executive board to meet on May 8 to approve disbursement of over $1.2bn to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called a meeting of its executive board on May 8 to approve the disbursement of more than $1. 2 billion to Pakistan under two concurrent programmes — $7bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), IMF officials told Dawn. Pakistan has qualified for the disbursement of about $1bn after the successful third review of EFF and $210 million under the second review of RSF. The IMF announced on March 27 that it had reached a staff-level agreement for the disbursement of about $1. 2bn on the successful conclusion of the third review under EFF and the second review under RSF. The two sides have since been engaged in changes to fuel pricing and the elimination of subsidies to meet the petroleum levy target budgeted at Rs1. 47 trillion for the current fiscal year. The petroleum levy’s collection has already gone beyond Rs1. 2tr in the first nine months of the current fiscal year despite the government’s claim of subsidising diesel. The levy seems set to cross the Rs1. 47tr target with ease in the remaining three months of the fiscal year. However, the government is still considering increasing the levy on petrol or reviving the levy on diesel to make up for the Federal Board of Revenue’s shortfall. It was against this backdrop that the Fund has been advising the government to phase out the fuel subsidy. More to follow

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