Pakistan finance minister to meet IMF officials in Geneva

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet the finance minister of cash-starved Pakistan on the sidelines of a conference in Geneva as Islamabad struggles to restart its bailout programme, the lender’s spokesperson said on Sunday.
The IMF has not yet approved the release of $1.1bn that was originally planned to be disbursed in November last year, leaving Islamabad with less than $5bn foreign exchange reserves that could barely cover one month’s imports. This decline left no space for the government to pay back its foreign debts without borrowing more from global lenders and friendly countries. The unprecedented economic crisis has skyrocketed inflation in the country that has also been dealing with the aftermath of last year’s catastrophic floods that resulted in an estimated loss of more than $30bn.
“The IMF delegation is expected to meet (Pakistan’s) finance minister Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the Geneva conference to discuss outstanding issues and the path forward,” the spokesperson told reporters.
The Geneva conference, co-hosted by PM Shehbaz Sharif and United Nations’ secretary-general Antonio Guterres, will look to gather international support for Pakistan in the aftermath of devastating floods last year.
Meanwhile, local media reported that the institution’s managing director Kristalina Georgieva had had a “constructive call” with the Pakistan PM on Friday.
Pakistan entered a $6 billion IMF programme in 2019, which was increased to $7bn last year. The programme’s ninth review, which would release $1.18bn, is currently pending. It had earlier been put off for two months due to the PML-N-led government’s unwillingness to accept certain conditions placed before it by the Fund, and the disagreements have yet to be resolved.
The Pakistani finance minister has been critical of the IMF in recent months, publicly saying that the lender was acting “abnormally” in its dealings with Pakistan.
Last week, the minister had expressed hope that Saudi Arabia will park its deposits in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to provide some relief to the economy.
Islamabad needed Saudi money to shore up foreign reserves and ensure a survival from default. Riyadh deposited $3bn in November 2021, under the tenure of former PM Imran Khan. Last month, the kingdom had extended the terms of the fund.
Since taking office last April, PM Sharif has travelled to several Gulf countries to seek economic aid and investment. According to official data between April and November last year, Saudi Arabia has given more than $900m in aid and $500m for importing oil. Qatar promised to invest $3bn during Sharif’s trip to Doha in August.