The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan are still in negotiations since the two parties have not yet reached a wide consensus on a revised macroeconomic framework for the current fiscal year.
The delivery of the $1 billion tranche and the conclusion of the ninth review might not happen until the following calendar year 2023.
Top officials revealed to The News Agency on Monday that discussions with IMF officials were essentially ongoing for a month but that no deal could be reached.
The discussions went on for weeks, but the two parties were unable to agree to begin policy-level discussions to wrap up the approaching ninth review by the end of November.
Background conversations show that the ongoing talks were in limbo, but neither the Pakistani nor the IMF sides are willing to speak publicly.
Differences over the updated macroeconomic and fiscal framework that Pakistan produced and communicated with the IMF for the completion of the ongoing review under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) are mostly to blame.
Pakistan must now put in a lot of effort to finish the review by the first week of December 2022.
If all parties can come to an agreement over the next 10 days, the IMF’s Executive Board will meet in January 2023 to approve Pakistan’s next tranche. Christmas and New Year holidays start after December 20, though.
In 2019, Pakistan received a $6 billion bailout, which was increased by $1 billion earlier in the year.
The seventh and eighth evaluations were approved by the IMF board in August, permitting the disbursement of more than $1.1 billion.
Since September, the ninth review has been waiting. The completion of a flood recovery plan, together with sustained financial support from multilateral and bilateral partners, was crucial to support discussions, the IMF told the news agency last week.
To read our blog on “Government provides IMF with updated budgetary guidance,” click here.
