The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board is anticipated to convene in the final week of August of this year to accept or disapprove its arrangement with Pakistan. The IMF has no objections to holding talks with the caretaker administration if it were to enter power in Pakistan.
According to sources with direct knowledge of the situation, for the Board to approve the loan payment, Pakistan would have to comply with all of the preconditions of the agreement.
Furthermore, Pakistan could not afford to put off the fulfillment of these requirements, especially those pertaining to the imposition of taxes on petroleum-based goods.
Immediate implementation of the decision taken by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on fuel adjustment and improvement in the working of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and other anti-corruption organizations to ensure good governance.
Additionally, the staff level agreement stipulates that NEPRA’s decisions must be carried out right away.
After February 2022, NEPRA’s decision about the adjustment of gasoline shall be carried out without delay, violations of agreements, and deviations from previous policy measures.
According to the sources, Pakistan could only provide the subsidies that were mentioned in the country’s budget, which was another need set forth by the Fund.
They believed that the PTI government had broken its commitments with the IMF after February 2022, which had a negative impact on the country’s IMF program.
They continued, saying the economy suffered greatly from the delay in reform implementation.
Additionally, they stated that the IMF had no issues holding talks with Pakistan’s interim administration, which appeared to be a very plausible possibility following the ruling PML-humiliating N’s loss in the Punjab by-elections.
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