PM in last-gasp bid to revive IMF talks

With Pakistan’s respectable foreign currency reserves slipping to a risky stage of $4.5 billion due to predominant debt payments, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) coping with director to immediately ship over a group to the u . S . A . To begin evaluation negotiations for the subsequent tranche of its loan.

While speakme at the inauguration of Hazara Electric Supply Company (HAZECO) in Islamabad, the most useful also confirmed a story of The Express Tribune that he had a telephonic conversation with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday.

“I requested her to ship an IMF group for the final touch of the pending 9th evaluation of the programme so that the following mortgage tranche is launched,” he advised the collection while referring to his telephonic communication with Georgieva an afternoon earlier. “She assured that the task will go to [Pakistan] within the next to 3 days.”
However, the finance ministry sources stated no dates for the IMF review project have been finalised yet.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar would go away for Geneva in conjunction with PM Shehbaz and meet IMF officials on the sidelines of a conference there. The conference has now been lowered to a weather resilience event from a donors’ conference due to loss of hobby by using predominant gamers.

The highest quality’s direct intervention in the IMF programme talks indicates that the matters have slipped out of the arms of the finance ministry.

The ninth review talks had been pending on the grounds that October final yr, ensuing within the withholding of a $1.1 billion loan tranche. Pakistan is keen to finish the 9th assessment so that the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) might also release their loans.

Dar held a digital assembly with Jin Liqun, the president of the AIIB, inquiring for him to offer more loans.

PM Shehbaz disclosed his conversation with the IMF’s head the day Pakistan repaid two extra overseas business loans totalling $1.02 billion.

Pakistan paid back $six hundred million to the Emirates NBD Bank and $420 million to the Dubai Islamic Bank on Friday, in line with authorities officials.After the clean debt repayments, the respectable forex reserves have dropped to approximately $four.Five billion — sufficient for handiest 25 days of import cowl.
No major influx has been suggested in the first week of January. The valuable bank had reported on Thursday that as of December 30, 2022, the forex reserves stood at $5.6 billion, that have now been similarly depleted.

However, Pakistan is watching for a refinancing of $seven-hundred million via the Chinese Development Bank and $3 billion coins injection by means of Saudi Arabia — what Dar said could arrive “in days”.

The high minister also disclosed that Georgieva inquired whether or not or now not China and Saudi Arabia had been helping Pakistan.

“Because in their big financial exposures, I could be surprised if China and Saudi Arabia do no longer link their financial help with the IMF programme that oversees Pakistan,” stated Haroon Sharif, a former chairman of the Board of Investment, while talking throughout Express News’ display – ‘The Review’.

Haroon introduced that there might be a political and diplomatic fee for essential monetary reliance on Saudi Arabia and China.An official handout released with the aid of the PM’s Office after his speech read that the IMF managing director referred to as most excellent Shehbaz on the phone.

However, IMF Resident Representative Esther Perez did now not respond to a query whether the decision have been requested by way of the worldwide lender or Pakistan.

The professional handout further said that Georgieva had “expressed her deep sympathy and subject on the human and fabric losses due to the recent floods and reiterated her commitment to assist Pakistan on this hard duration”.

“The prime minister thanked the handling director for her concern on the fallout of the floods and prolonged an invite to [her] to participate within the Climate Resilient Pakistan Conference [in] Geneva,” it introduced.

However, the IMF MD did not accept the invitation to travel to Geneva.

“The dealing with director thanked the PM for the invitation but defined that as the IMF Board meetings have been prefixed for 9th and 10th of January, she will be able to handiest be capable of be a part of the conference surely,” according to the PM’s Office.