Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked the International Monetary Fund to take into account recent Pakistan floods while examining the country’s rescue program.
“We are progressing regularly to involvement program objectives, but the devastation caused by floods must be reflected in the IMF exam,” Sharif told the director general of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, at their meeting in New York.
The press release from the PM office appreciated the “long -standing constructive partnership of the IMF with Pakistan, saying that it had” strengthened more under the direction of Ms. Georgieva “.
The press release underlined the appropriate support for the IMF thanks to an agreement of $ 3 billion during the 201024 fiscal year, followed by an extended funding of $ 7 billion (EFF) and an ease of resilience and sustainability of $ 1.4 billion (RSF).
Sharif added that Pakistan’s economy “showed positive signs of stabilization and progress towards recovery with rooted structural reforms”, crediting the IMF support to guide the reform process.
Read: The danger of floods decreases through Pakistan, rehabilitation begins
According to the PM office, Georgieva expressed its sympathy with the population affected by the floods and stressed that “the evaluation of damage will be essential to support recovery priorities”. She congratulated the Prime Minister’s commitment to pursue solid macroeconomic policies ”and reiterated the continuous support of IMF in Pakistan.
The government of Pakistan posted on X on the visit
IMF mission
The IMF will send a mission to Islamabad from September 25 to October 8 for the second examination of the Pakistani economy under the EFF, which will determine the release of the third loan section of $ 1 billion.
“The mission will evaluate if the budget for fiscal year 26, its spending allowances and its emergency provisions remain agile enough to meet the necessary expenditure needs for the floods,” said Mahir Binici, the resident representative of the IMF in Pakistan.
The team will assess whether Pakistan’s tax policies and emergency measures are adequate to deal with the crisis. The Minister of Finance, Muhammad Aurangzeb, said that Pakistan has been in close contact with the IMF, who “showed an understanding” of the challenges triggered by the floods.
Find out more: Sudden floods cause damage to Rs650m to the Faisalabad irrigation infrastructure
The Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal called separately the fund to “help us to mitigate the damage”. The IMF board of directors previously approved a new loan of $ 1.4 billion in May to strengthen Pakistan’s economic resilience to climatic vulnerabilities and natural disasters, with other contingent disbursements on successful program exams.
Relief of floods and opinions
The IMF permanently expressed the “deep pain” and “deep condolences” on the loss of lives in the devastating floods of Pakistan and confirmed that its mission of examination will also assess the economic impact of the disaster and the financial requirements for recovery and reconstruction.
In a separate decision, the government asked for the approval of the IMF to relieve itself of electricity bills in the areas affected by the floods. The PM asked the Ministry of Finance to guarantee the consent of the IMF for an exemption, and the authorities requested a postponement of bills of three months, citing a similar measure in 2022. IMF officials asked for additional data from the electricity division.
The Ministry of Finance also plans to request flexibility in the objectives mandated by the IMF for the primary budgetary surplus and the surplus of provincial cash, given the scale of the losses. Work is underway on a support for farmers modeled on that introduced after the floods of 2022.
