IMF resident representative to take leave soon

ISLAMABAD: Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Pakistan Tokhir N Mirzoev has completed his three-year term in Islamabad and is now all set to return to Washington.

“Yes, Tokhir Mirzoev has completed his three year term and also worked along with new nominated head of IMF resident office in Islamabad in the last couple of weeks before his return to Washington DC,” an official told The News on Monday.

Mirzoev would introduce the new country representative, nominated by the fund management, to the media on Tuesday (today).

Though the nomination of the new resident representative is a routine matter, it has come at a crucial time in Pakistan. Islamabad is sliding towards a crisis on its external front, as the current account deficit has already ballooned to over $9.2 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal, while foreign currency reserves were declining at a rapid pace.

In the last few weeks, foreign currency reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) nosedived by close to $1 billion and at this pace, the balance of payment crisis is now around the corner; a matter of just three to four months only.

Foreign currency reserves held by the SBP stood over $13 billion last month, but now have decreased to $12.34 billion in four to five weeks.

The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $18.413 billion on February 23, 2018 including $12.34 held by the SBP and remaining $6.067 billion by the commercial banks.

On the week ending February 23, 2018 the SBP’s reserves decreased by $358 million to $12.346 billion due to external debt servicing and other official obligations.