Pakistan has been repeatedly seeking international aid to support its declining economy. (Representative)
Islamabad:
The US has agreed to help the cash-strapped Pakistan with the global lender negotiate a deal with the IMF for the revival of the country’s economic bailout program, a media report said.
Pakistan and the IMF are yet to reach an employee-level agreement for the revival of the Extended Funds Facility (EFF), leaving Pakistani officials in a tight spot to bridge the gap and receive an updated federal budget for the fiscal year. but has been abandoned. Dawn newspaper reported that the year 2022-23 was passed by the National Assembly.
The US has agreed to help Pakistan on a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the newspaper reported on Sunday, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
Earlier, media reports claimed that Islamabad was “seeking Washington’s support” to renew its EFF with the IMF.
As the largest shareholder, the US has considerable influence on IMF decision-making.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, met Christopher Wilson, Assistant US Trade Representative (USTR) for South and Central Asia, and discussed the expansion of trade ties between the two countries and the US in Pakistan, a statement said. To encourage investment.
The USTR’s office is responsible for developing and coordinating US international trade, commodities, and for directing investment policy. The newspaper reported that it also oversees trade negotiations with other countries.
The report said that Pakistan signed a 39-month, USD 6 billion EFF in July 2019, but the IMF stopped disbursement of around USD 3 billion after the previous government went back on its commitments.
Currently, Islamabad wants the IMF to not only resume disbursements but also to expand the size and duration of the program, the report said.
A top finance ministry official confirmed on Sunday night that they are yet to receive the first draft of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) from the IMF, as targeted earlier as some matters remained unresolved.
“We are working closely with the IMF and will come to a conclusion very soon,” the official said.
According to the Finance Ministry, the government is aiming to get the budget for 2022-23 passed by the National Assembly on June 27-28.
Pakistan has been repeatedly seeking international aid to support its declining economy.
In May, Saudi Arabia agreed to provide a “big package” of around USD 8 billion to Pakistan to help the cash-starved country bolster its dwindling foreign exchange reserves and revive its ailing economy.
Pakistan secured the deal during Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia in April. The financial package includes doubling of the oil financing facility, additional funding through deposits or sukuks and addition of existing facilities to the tune of USD 4.2 billion.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)