ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will hold talks starting from February 3 for disbursement of third tranche of about $450 million under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) finalised in May last year.
The IMF delegation will perform quarterly review (from October till December) of the economy in the current fiscal year 2020. The IMF delegation will reach Islamabad on February 2 whereas the second review meeting of Pakistan and the IMF is scheduled to begin on February 3. The talks will review Pakistan’s second quarter financial performance.
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The global moneylender will also consider the performance of various ministries and government departments, and in particular, energy and tax reforms under the current regime.
The delegation will also meet Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Finance Advisor Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi. Pakistan received second tranche of $454 million from the IMF in late December and the global moneylender at that time declared that Pakistan’s reform programme was “on track and has started to bear fruit”.
Following the release of the second tranche, the total amount of money so far granted by the IMF under the current programme rose to $1,440 million.
The IMF, after completing its first review of Pakistan under the EFF, noted that “decisive” implementation of government policies had helped preserve economic stability in the country.
