No objection to talks with caretaker govt: IMF

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to meet in the last week of August this year to decide whether to approve or disapprove its deal with Pakistan, and IMF had no objection to holding negotiations with the caretaker government if it comes in Pakistan.

Sources privy to the matter said Pakistan would have to meet all the pre-conditions to the agreement to win the Board’s approval for the loan instalment, adding that Pakistan could not afford to delay implementation on these conditions, including those related to levying taxes on petroleum products, immediate implementation on the decision taken by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on fuel adjustment and improvement in the working of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and other anti-corruption organisations to ensure good governance.

Moreover, the immediate implementation of Nepra’s decisions is part of the staff level agreement; Nepra’s decision on fuel adjustment must be implemented without delay, violations of agreements and deviations from policy measures in the past, after February 2022.

The sources further said that another condition laid down by the Fund was that Pakistan could only give those subsidies, which had been announced in the country’s budget. They were of the view that the country’s IMF programme had suffered a setback after February 2022 as the PTI government violated its agreements with the international monetary organisation.

Delay in implementation of reforms did a lot of harm to the economy, they added. They also disclosed that the IMF had no objection to holding negotiations with the caretaker government in Pakistan, which seemed a quite likely prospect after the ruling PML-N’s humiliating defeat in the Punjab by-polls.