Asserting that a staff-level agreement with the lender was still awaited, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated on Friday that the government has received the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) from the IMF regarding the conclusion of the ninth review of a $7 billion loan program.
The IMF group, which left Pakistan Sunday night after having negotiations with the government for 10 days, said that virtual conversations will go on, prompting the minister to make these comments during an early-morning press briefing.
Talks between the government and the IMF took place from January 31 to February 9. There was significant uncertainty regarding the results of the discussions and whether a draught MEFP had been shared as the visiting party departed without making a concluding statement.
However, Dar insisted in his press conference today that there was no confusion. “We insisted that they (the Fund delegation) give us the MEFP before leaving so we could look at it over the weekend,” he said, adding that the government and Fund officials would hold a virtual meeting in this regard on Monday.
“I am confirming that the MEFP draft has been received by us at 9 am today,” he added. “We will completely go through the [MEFP] over the weekend and will hold a virtual meeting with [Fund officials]. It will obviously take a few days.”
The MEFP is a key document that outlines all of the requirements, procedures, and policy directives upon which the two parties proclaim the staff-level agreement.
The two parties talk about the proposed policy measures after sharing the original MEFP. After they are completed, a staff-level agreement is signed and sent to the Executive Board of the Fund for approval.
The finance minister stated during today’s press conference that Pakistan’s interest lay in implementing the changes demanded by the IMF in a few specific sectors. He criticized the previous PTI-led government for its “economic misgovernance and destruction.”
He declared, “Those problems must be fixed. Although difficult, these adjustments are required. He promised to keep working to see that Pakistan finished the IMF program.
“They (IMF) have their own internal process, and then a Board meeting is convened, once the MEFP has been finalized. Finally, the [tranche] is distributed after approval is granted.
“It is a standard process which can neither be shortened and hopefully they won’t extend it unnecessarily,” Dar added.
The country would get a $1.2 billion disbursement and $894 million in Special Drawing Rights following the conclusion of the evaluation, the finance minister announced. International reserve assets known as SDRs were established by the IMF in 1969 and distributed to member states as an addition to their official reserves.
