Talks with IMF in progress: Aurangzeb

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) delegation, which cut short its visit and left Islamabad on Monday, citing security concerns, was presently in Istanbul and that he was in contact with its members.He said that online negotiations with the IMF would continue for the next eight to 10 days.The ongoing talks between an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission and authorities in Islamabad were converted to virtual mode on Monday due to the regional situation following the attack on Iran by the US and Israel.The IMF mission, led by Iva Petrova, immediately relocated to Istanbul following an advisory issued by the lending agency’s headquarters, disrupting a series of sectoral meetings planned for the day.READ MORE: EFF & RSF reviews: Virtual talks with IMF now due to regional unrest“The IMF team has moved to Istanbul after special instructions were issued to them due to the volatile security situation in the region,” the Finance Ministry said.The remaining schedule of meetings, however, will remain intact and will progress through video link between Islamabad and Istanbul.“An IMF mission led by Iva Petrova has started discussions with the authorities in Karachi and Islamabad on the third review of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement and the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF),” the Fund said in a statement.Earlier in the day, the two sides had a kick-off meeting presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.The two sides broadly touched upon the emerging regional security situation but were equally uncertain about how the crisis would play out and for how long. The two sides said they would closely monitor the evolving situation and discuss contingency measures as the engagements progressed.The Ministry said the IMF delegation came to Islamabad for a day and met Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb “for some of the key discussions.” The official confirmed the IMF team will continue the rest of the talks with Pakistani authorities virtually from Istanbul.“It would take another five to six days as they already have held discussions with the stakeholders in Karachi,” he said.The IMF’s country representative in Pakistan, Mahir Binici, had also stated that discussions related to the EFF and RSF reviews would be held virtually.The official said Pakistan is expected to receive a tranche of “over a billion dollars” if the review talks are held successfully. “They release their loans in equal tranches mostly,” he said.When asked whether the IMF mission’s response was encouraging during the review discussions, the official responded that “they never give any response.” He said as per the usual process, both sides would sign a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) first in case of a successful review, following which the IMF’s Executive Board would take the final decision on whether the tranche should be released or not.Both EFF and RSF are key programs crucial for stabilizing Pakistan’s fragile economy. The IMF team was in the country to assess fiscal performance, energy-sector reforms, and external financing needs before approving the next disbursement.The ongoing IMF engagement is seen as vital for Pakistan as geopolitical tensions and rising global oil prices pose renewed risks for its economic recovery.Pakistan entered into the IMF’s program to strengthen its public finances, foreign exchange reserves and restore macroeconomic stability after periods of economic volatility.

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