IMF mission arrives in Islamabad to review performance of Country

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission has arrived in Islamabad to review Pakistan’s performance under its $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) finalised in May this year.

The IMF team led by Mission Chief to Pakistan Ernesto Ramirez-Rigo will stay in the country for two weeks.

During the visit, the team will hold technical discussions with authorities from all the ministries, divisions and departments concerned to examine the latest data before winding up its trip on Nov 7 with policy-level talks with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Dr Reza Baqir.

The IMF mission will review Pakistan’s performance against six performance criteria related to Net International Reserves (NIR), Net Domestic Assets (NDA), net foreign currency swap position, primary budget deficit target, net government borrowing from the central bank and stock of sovereign guarantees issued by the government.

The successful completion of the first review would enable Islamabad to draw about $453 million from the Fund in first part of December this year, taking the total amount to almost $1.44bn.

The IMF had made in July this year an upfront disbursement of $991 million on completion of all prior actions committed by Pakistan before signing the fund programme.