Pakistan News

IMF Agreement Is Not A “Magic Cure,” Claims Shehbaz

IMF Agreement Is Not A “Magic Cure,” Claims Shehbaz

July 2, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / Pakistan News


Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that the current arrangement is not a panacea and that he hopes it would “be the last one” shortly after the government received a much-needed $3 billion short-term financing package from the IMF.

A Friday IMF accord was set to expire only hours before the new nine-month standby agreement was announced. Now, the IMF’s board must approve the staff-level agreement with Pakistan later this month.

Although the accord provided a “much-needed breather,” Prime Minister Sharif stated he hoped this new program would be “the last one.”

  • Hours before the last package’s expiration, a nine-month standby agreement is announced;
  • The IMF board must approve a $3 billion package later this month.
  • Despite his insistence that loans do not build nations, the PM calls the current agreement a “much-needed breather.”

“This is not a time for arrogance, but rather for reflection on reality. Do countries manage without loans? Let’s pray that this is the last time we obtain a loan from the IMF and that we won’t need to do so in the future, he said to the media in Lahore on Friday after the agreement was reached.

The conversations he had last week in Paris with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva were characterized by him as a “turning point” in a string of recent negotiations with the international organization.

As it struggles to pay off debilitating external debt, the economy is experiencing a balance of payments crisis, and months of political unrest have discouraged foreign investment.

The country is struggling to afford imports as a result of skyrocketing inflation, the rupee’s record low against the dollar, and a country-wide decrease in industrial production.

“I am pleased to announce that the IMF team has reached a staff-level agreement with the Pakistani authorities on a nine-month standby arrangement in the amount of SDR 2,250 million (about $3bn),” IMF mission leader Nathan Porter said in a statement late Thursday.

According to Mr. Porter, the agreement will be evaluated by the IMF executive board by mid-July.

Since last November, the administration has been trying to satisfy the terms of the bailout arrangement by making hurried modifications to the national budget. According to Mr. Porter, it ended on Friday, and the new pact builds on the IMF’s initiatives under the earlier accord.

A $1.1 billion advance payment would be made under the revised agreement, according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, immediately after the IMF board meeting this month.

The agreement will also make other finance available on a bilateral and international basis. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and China, longtime friends, have already committed or extended billions in credit. The IMF stated that this “will support near-term policy efforts and replenish gross reserves.”

According to Tradeweb statistics reported by Reuters, Pakistan’s sovereign dollar bonds were trading higher after the announcement, with the 2024 issue seeing the greatest gains, up more than 8 cents at little above 70 cents in the dollar.

Shorter-dated bonds had the biggest increases, showing ongoing doubts about the nation’s longer-term budgetary picture.

Later, on Friday night, PM Shehbaz tweeted that the new IMF agreement was a “much-needed breather” that will aid the nation in achieving economic stability. He stressed, nevertheless, that “loans are not used to build states. I ask God that this new program will be the last.

Miftah Ismail, a former finance minister, wrote in a tweet, “We must acknowledge that this IMF accord affords us yet another opportunity to make significant reforms. The people of Pakistan will continue to suffer for the structural and governance failings of their governments if we don’t implement these changes, leaving Pakistan at the mercy of multilateral lenders.

Pakistan’s poor progress in fulfilling the conditions set forth by the IMF for an agreement has drawn criticism from Michael Kugelman, head of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre.

He stated that Islamabad has postponed politically hazardous fiscal policy actions that the IMF had been hoping to see for months.


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Ishaq Dar
Pakistan News

Dar Again Eliminates The Option Of A Default

Dar Again Eliminates The Option Of A Default

June 3, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / Pakistan News


Reforms are promised by the finance minister for “long-term improvement” of the nation.

Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s finance minister, again ruled out the idea of a default on Saturday and pledged that changes are being prepared for the “long-term improvement” of the nation.

The finance czar promised to work with other government officials to help the nation overcome its present economic difficulties while speaking to a delegation from the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Islamabad.

Dar said that the Ministry of Finance will start a revolution in agriculture and create a sovereign wealth fund. He added that he is committed to take actions that have previously been disregarded and that the IT industry would also be a priority of his.

The group was also told by the finance minister that there is “no technical justification” for the IMF program’s postponement, which is unprecedented.

He insisted that Pakistan was an independent nation with trillions of dollars’ worth of assets.

Dar said that the nation has over $100 billion in foreign liabilities, but just one asset, its gas infrastructure, is valued between $40 and $45 billion.

The business sector was also urged by the finance minister to make fair expectations for the 2019 budget, and the administration promised to work with them.

Dar’s remarks came a day after a cabinet member said that Pakistan’s request to lessen the need of arranging $6 billion in new loans had been denied by the global lender, leaving the government with little choice except to attempt to resurrect the arrangement.

Minister of State for Finance Dr. Aisha Pasha stressed that Pakistan’s only choice was to return to the IMF in a policy statement delivered at the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance.

Dr. Pasha claims that Pakistan asked the IMF to take into consideration lowering the $6 billion external funding demand based on fresh data on the current account deficit, but the Fund declined. The other $3 billion was to be arranged after the staff-level agreement, she said, but the IMF insisted on “demonstrating the $6 billion.” She went on to say that there was an understanding to arrange $3 billion before the agreement.

The statement from the ministry of finance shows that the IMF has not altered its position despite a call from Prime ministry Shehbaz Sharif to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

The IMF has already paid out $3.9 billion of the overall $6.5 billion rescue package during the previous four years, with the remaining amount depending upon the conclusion of three outstanding assessments.


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Pakistan News

PM Says That All Conditions Have Been Fulfilled, But IMF Wants “More Guarantees”

PM Says That All Conditions Have Been Fulfilled, But IMF Wants “More Guarantees”

April 16, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / Pakistan News


The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has no reason to put off approving the staff-level agreement after receiving financial guarantees from allies, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday. However, a Fund official said the lender was looking forward to receiving “necessary financing assurances” as soon as possible to clear the way for the conclusion of the ninth review of the $7 billion program.

IMF Mission Chief to Pakistan Nathan Porter made the announcement a day after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed $1 billion in bilateral financial help for Pakistan, which is thought to be the last preparatory action for staff-level agreement with the international lender.

PM Shehbaz remarked, “The IMF had set a condition for us to arrange funds from friendly countries before it signed a staff-level agreement with us,” while speaking at an event in Lahore. We worked hard for one and a half months to achieve the IMF’s final need by first getting a rollover of $2 billion from China and then $3 billion from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The premier complimented Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Ishaq Dar for their “hard work” in this respect and stated that “the new army chief made efforts to acquire the funds from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”

He expressed the resolve to overcome these obstacles by reaching an agreement with the international lender as quickly as possible, despite the fact that his administration “inherited an IMF agreement that was in tatters.” There was “no alternative,” he said, therefore the government had to accept the strict requirements established by the IMF.

The Fund, meantime, praised Pakistan’s receipt of bilateral aid but pressed Islamabad for more guarantees to finalise the agreement.

The agreement to retain strong policies and find adequate funding to assist the implementation efforts was reached during talks between the Pakistani delegation and IMF employees and management, the statement added.

In contrast to an earlier government declaration that the pledge of $2 billion from Saudi Arabia and $1 billion from the UAE would address the issue, an official source noted that the Fund is still waiting for assurances from friendly nations. In addition, Mr. Dar said that the State Bank had received the final payment of $300 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on its $1.3 billion loan.

Kristalina Georgieva, the chief of the IMF, had hoped Pakistan would finish its current plan.

At a news conference in Washington, she stated, “My hope is that with the goodwill of everyone and with the implementation of what has already been agreed upon by the Pakistani authorities, we can complete our current program successfully.”

Separately, as part of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings, Mr. Dar conducted a virtual discussion with Jin Liqu, the president of the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB), through a video link.

According to a formal statement, Mr. Dar informed the AIIB president on the government’s economic objectives and reforms for sustainable development while also sharing the present economic prognosis.

According to the release, the AIIB president praised the bank’s partnership with Pakistan.


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Pakistan News

Interbank Rupee Declines By Almost Rs19 versus The Dollar Due To IMF Delays

Interbank Rupee Declines By Almost Rs19 versus The Dollar Due To IMF Delays

March 3, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / Pakistan News


On the interbank market on Thursday, the Pakistani rupee plunged drastically by Rs18.74 versus the dollar, reaching a record high of Rs284.85 in morning trade, according to information provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (Ecap).

Experts blamed the government’s standoff with the International Monetary Fund for the record loss, which is 7.04 percent (IMF).

According to SBP statistics, the PKR closed Wednesday at Rs266.11 per USD.

“Uncertainty resulting from IMF financing delay”
According to Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of Topline Securities, who spoke to Dawn.com, the recent decline was mostly brought on by a lack of confidence in the currency market due to the IMF’s delayed financing.

The “crackdowns on currency merely reinforced the grey market”
According to Zafar Paracha, secretary general of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP), Pakistan was urged by the IMF to exchange dollars at the going rate for commerce with Afghanistan.

In other words, they had stated that rather than the interbank rate or the open market, our true rate should be the grey market rate. They are correct since the only location where trading in dollars now occurs is on the black market, he continued.

He claimed that because of limitations put in place by the government on foreign exchange, trading moved to the black market.

The numerous limitations they have placed on foreign exchange businesses regarding the buying and selling of the dollar, he claimed, prevent the currency from rising or falling.

He said that despite government crackdowns [on the grey market], this is still the case. Asserting that carrying out crackdowns would not assist, Paracha urged for a revision of the policies.

“Unintentionally, our policies have substantially aided the grey market. The IMF is aware of this as well, and has advised us to get our exchange rate between the rupee and the dollar to that level,” he continued.

The currency has been plunging in recent days amid delays in an agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund, which they have been discussing since early last month.

One of the things the IMF wants Pakistan to do is switch to a market-based currency exchange rate system. If the IMF’s board approves this measure, a financing tranche of over $1 billion that has been held up since late last year over a policy framework will be released.

The lender’s requirements are designed to make sure Pakistan reduces its fiscal deficit before presenting its annual budget in June.

But, the budgetary changes required by any agreement are expected to increase the already record-high inflation rate, which reached 31.5 percent in February.

The IMF has also asked Pakistan to increase policy rates and fulfil bilateral and multilateral external funding obligations.

China, Pakistan’s longtime friend, is the only nation to have refinanced $700 million to Islamabad.

At an off-cycle meeting on Thursday, the Pakistani central bank is generally anticipated to increase its benchmark policy rate by 200 basis points, according to a Reuters poll.


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