ISLAMABAD: Discus-sions to date in the context of the ninth review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) have been productive, and have enabled a revision to the macroeconomic outlook post-floods, said Esther Perez Ruiz IMF country representative in Pakistan.
Replying to Business Recorder queries about the formal talks of IMF Mission with Pakistan for ninth review, the IMF official did not give specific timeline for formal talks.
Esther Perez Ruiz stated, “Discussions to date in the context of the 9th review have been productive, and have enabled a revision to the macroeconomic outlook post-floods as well as an in-depth evaluation of fiscal, monetary, exchange rate and energy policies adopted since the completion of the combined seventh and eight reviews.
The IMF looks forward to continue the dialogue over policies that adequately address the humanitarian and rehabilitation needs from the floods, while also preserving fiscal and external sustainability given available financing.”
Earlier, she had stated that as part of the 9th review under the EFF, remote discussions continue between IMF staff and the Pakistani authorities over policies to reprioritize and better target support toward humanitarian and rehabilitation needs, while also accelerating reform efforts to preserve macroeconomic and fiscal sustainability, including with continuing financial support from multilateral and bilateral partners”. As per the IMF seventh, and eighth review documents, uploaded on the website end September 2022, the ninth review was scheduled for November 3, 2022.
The executive board approved the sixth review on February 2, 2022, following discussions that ended on November 18, 2021, with the officials of Pakistan – the time lapse attributed to the delay in meeting the ‘prior’ conditions.
According to the staff report released after approval of sixth review, the proposed schedule for seventh review was March 4, 2022 and June 3, 2022 for eighth review. However, the IMF executive board approved the seventh and eighth reviews under the EFF on August 29, following discussions that ended on May 25, 2022 – the delay again attributable to the delay in meeting the ‘prior’ conditions.—TAHIR AMIN
