The mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistani authorities have made exceptional progress in the staff-level agreement. Officials say that policy-level discussions will continue, as reported by national media on Thursday.
The IMF team led by Eva Petrova visited Karachi and Islamabad from September 24 to October 8. During this visit, discussions were held with Pakistani authorities on the second review under the Extended Fund Facility and the first review under the Resilience program.
According to the statement issued by the IMF, the implementation of the program is continuing in accordance with the government’s commitments, and further improvement in the national economy is expected as a result.
The statement said that progress was made on several important issues during the discussions, including helping the rehabilitation of flood-affected people while maintaining fiscal discipline, and adopting a cautious monetary policy to keep inflation within the target set by the State Bank.
The statement further said that reforms in the energy sector, reducing the scope of public institutions, and strengthening transparency and governance were also part of the discussions.
The IMF said that policy-level talks will continue with Pakistani authorities to finalize the remaining matters.
