An IMF team has reached Islamabad for talks before releasing the much-needed final tranche of $1.1 billion of the $3 billion relief package.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed displeasure over cash-strapped Pakistan’s claim that it has achieved all structural standards and quantitative and nominal targets even before the scrutiny and review by the global lender has been completed.
An IMF team has reached Islamabad for talks before releasing the much-needed final tranche of $1.1 billion of the $3 billion relief package. This relief package was agreed upon last year.
According to media reports, IMF mission chief Nathan Porter and his colleagues have expressed unhappiness that the Finance Ministry has not completed the review process under the recently launched $3 billion ‘Standby Arrangement’ (SBA) program. The decision was announced.
The IMF will present its solutions only after analyzing official data from various sectors of the national economy. Earlier, the Finance Ministry in its official handout announced that they have met all the structural benchmarks and other targets before receiving any response from the IMF.
According to ‘The News International’ report, the IMF review mission questioned the Finance Ministry team in the first session of the review talks and everyone had no idea how to respond. However, Finance Minister Aurangzeb has taken note of this and such an episode will not be repeated in future.