Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday assured a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that his government would fulfill all the conditions agreed upon for the $ 6.7 billion loan to be awarded to Pakistan.
The delegation called on the prime minister and sought assurances to fulfill all the conditions agreed upon between the two sides. A source told Pakistan Today that the prime minister gave assurance during the meeting and all the matters were discussed at length.
The prime minister said his government was not letting itself influenced by political pressures on economic problems being faced by the country. “A new and competent team is working day and night to overcome energy crisis in particular,” he added. A dedicated team was fully committed to bring Pakistan back on firm and sound economic footings, the PM assured the IMF team.
Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department IMF Masood Ahmed, Mission Chief IMF Jeffery Franks, Minister Finance Ishaq Dar and Secretary Finance Waqar Masood were also present during the meeting.
The prime minister said that Pakistan recognised its responsibilities towards international organisations and there existed an understanding about each other’s mandates. He assured that foreign exchange reserves of the country would improve as a result of the actions being taken to improve investor-friendly environment in Pakistan.
The IMF delegation congratulated the prime minister for smooth democratic transition and stated that they were impressed by his (prime minister’s) economic vision. The IMF representatives said the present government had a coherent plan and clarity of purpose for economic revival and there existed a capacity to implement the reforms’ plan into action.
The IMF envoy has already told the Pakistan’s top economic managers that in a departure from the past practice, the Fund would not give any waiver to Pakistan if it dishonoured any of its commitments under the $6.7 billion extended fund facility.
Under the approved extended fund facility, the government will receive the $6.7 billion in 13 tranches, the first of which amounting to $547 million has been received by Pakistan. If the government fails to implement any of the agreed conditions, which according to Mojarrad have been conveyed in black and white, it will have to seek a waiver from the IMF Board or the remaining tranches will be suspended.
To meet pre-conditions for the approval of the loan, the government had earlier increased power tariffs for industrial, commercial and bulk consumers, issued notices to over 10,000 tax evaders, sought Council of Common Interests approval for seeking Rs 117 billion savings from provinces and conducted open market operations worth $125 million through the State Bank to support dwindling foreign currency reserves.
