IMF’s schedule till April 29 excludes Pakistan's economic review

Washington: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the meeting schedule till April 29, which does not include Pakistan's economic review.

According to the details, Pakistan has also made a formal request to the IMF for the next bailout package of six to eight billion dollars.

Apart from this, Pakistan has also requested to send a review mission of the IMF to Pakistan in the next month of May so that the details of the bailout package for the next three years can be decided.

The Executive Board of IMF has released the meeting schedule till April 29, which does not include Pakistan's economic review, while the staff level agreement between Pakistan and IMF was reached on March 20 last month.

With the approval of IMF Executive Board, Pakistan will receive the final tranche of 1.1 billion dollars after which the standby arrangement of $3 billion will end.

It is pertinent to note that a day ago, the IMF had emphasized that prioritizing reforms to revive the Pakistani economy is more important than getting a new loan package.

The IMF official's comment came after Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb's recent announcement that Pakistan was pursuing a significant and expanded loan package with the IMF.

Pakistan's proposed 24th three-year package with the fiscal fund, if approved, could amount to between $6 billion and $8 billion, which would be the country's largest debt ever.