IMF delegate to reach Pakistan today for monetary talks

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation will arrive in Pakistan today for talks under the $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement.

According to the details, the delegation will hold talks for the next installment under the SBA and a new loan program from March 15 as the country’s finance czar Mohammad Aurangzeb has given the green signal for talks.

The IMF mission will visit the Finance Ministry today for economic review talks, where it will hold a meeting with newly sworn-in Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmad, including Finance Secretary Imdad Bosal.

As per details, there will be four days of talks between the international lender and the economic team.

READ MORE: Finance Minister Aurangzeb discusses interest rates, inflation, IMF plan

Islamabad will hold negotiations with the international lender for a new medium-term bailout package of $6 to 8 billion and the financing of $1.1 billion under the SBA program. Pakistan has already achieved the targets set by the IMF for the second review, the sources mentioned.

It should be remembered that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had declared the IMF program as inevitable and said that the current financial year will be difficult, there is a lot of talk, but now is the time for action.

Finance ministry sources said the new finance team will use all its energies to engage the IMF on the economic targets for the fresh loan programme and solve the problems faced by Pakistan.

On the other hand, the economic magazine Bloomberg called the appointment of Muhammad Aurangzeb as the finance minister a good sign for Pakistan and wrote that the appointment of a technocrat will help in solving the economic challenges.