The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund is expected to meet in the last week of August this year to decide whether to approve or disapprove its deal with Pakistan.
Sources said that for the agreement to win the Board’s approval, Pakistan would have to meet all the pre-conditions ahead of the meeting.
Pakistan could not afford to delay implementation on these conditions, including those related to levying taxes on petroleum products, immediate implementation on the decision taken by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority on fuel adjustment and improvement in the working of the National Accountability Bureau and other anti-corruption organisations in order to ensure good governance.
The sources further said that another condition laid down by the Fund was that Pakistan could only give those subsidies, which had been announced in the country’s budget.
They were of the view that the country’s IMF programme had suffered a setback after February 2022 as the PTI government violated its agreements with the international monetary organisation.
Delay in implementation on reforms did lot of harm to the economy, they added.
They also disclosed that the IMF had no objection to holding negotiations with the caretaker government in Pakistan, which seemed quite likely prospect after the ruling PML-N’s humiliating defeat in the Punjab by-polls.
