ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been close to signing the long-awaited staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Sources in the finance ministry told that the finance minister may “close the deal” next week.
A finance ministry official said that Finance Minister will start the final round of talks with the lender tomorrow.
Mr. Dar said earlier this week that the government and the Fund would sign a staff-level agreement in a few days.
According to the official, the deal couldn’t be signed this weekend. It happened because the State Bank of Pakistan’s rules were not met on time (SBP).
Early in February, the IMF sent a team to Islamabad to negotiate the terms of a deal. IMF wanted Pakistan to take steps to manage its fiscal deficit before the annual budget.
Since then, Mr. Dar has always been hopeful regarding the deal.
But the official said that the central bank had finished the last of the previous steps. Its compliance reports were then sent to the IMF, according to the official.
At the same time, all of the steps that the Finance Ministry, the Energy Ministry, and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had to take beforehand were done and shared with IMF officials.
The official said that Mr. Dar would now hold virtual talks with the IMF team, which would be led by Nathan Porter, the IMF’s mission chief in Pakistan, to finish the deal.
An agreement would release $1.1 billion, which is part of a $6.5 billion bailout package that the IMF approved in 2019. Analysts say this is very important if Pakistan wants to avoid not paying its foreign debts.
