ISLAMABAD, Sept 24: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday said that the government remained “very hopeful” regarding the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s review of the 37-month $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) taking place tomorrow.
The IMF said that the Fund’s board will meet on September 25 to discuss the EFF for Pakistan. The decision came following speculation that the disbursement of funds was tied to delays in debt rollover confirmation from China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
The delay was also speculated to be related to the government’s failure to arrange for fresh funds to cover the external financing gap of $2bn for the present fiscal year.
“We are very hopeful that the board will approve the 37-month seven billion dollar programme under which we are very committed to doing structural reforms,” Aurangzeb said during an interview with Geo News.
The finance minister noted that with the KIBOR and policy rates coming down, the government wanted to send “a very clear message” that it was not “desperate to borrow”.
“If we were to borrow domestically, we will borrow at our terms,” he said, citing examples of the government rejecting bids for T-Bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs).
“Now, this is all on the back of the Fund programme and we successfully concluded the nine-month SBA,” he stated.
The minister added that he wanted to thank the government of China “in terms of the support that we’ve had on the Fund programme as a long-standing partner of the country”.
“Now we need to move forward and that means we need to stay with the reform agenda — whether it’s on the taxation side, whether on the energy side, whether it’s on the state-owned enterprises and privatisation side,” he said, adding that the government will stay on course.
Pakistan and the IMF had reached a three-year, $7 billion aid package deal in July, with the new programme set to allow the country “cement macroeconomic stability and create conditions for stronger, more inclusive and resilient growth”.
The country also completed its previous $3 billion loan programme in April and secured a credit rating upgrade from both Moody’s Ratings and Fitch Ratings late last month.
