Prime Minister Shehbaz says the final two prerequisites for an IMF agreement have been met, and the deal can move forward.
After accepting and enacting all of the International Monetary Fund’s criteria, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stated that nothing stands in the way of the deal.
The crisis-stricken country is scheduled to hold general elections in November, and Premier Shehbaz, speaking at a federal cabinet meeting, said the budget must satisfy the IMF to secure the release of more bailout money.
Shehbaz has promised that the ninth review will be finished soon.
Since his administration took office 14 months ago, he said, the IMF has posed the greatest difficulty due to the shattered agreement, the post-flood circumstances, and global inflation.
He stated that the IMF’s terms had been accepted and fully implemented, but the agreement at the staff level had not yet been signed. The issue will be brought before the board. If everything goes according to plan, the IMF’s ninth review will be finished this month, and the board will vote on whether or not to approve it.
Shehbaz claimed to have had an hour-long phone conversation with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. I told her that I’m willing to take the next step based on her verbal assurance. After those two more phases, the agreement was guaranteed as long as I met the IMF’s further requirements.
He added that the country’s economy lost more than $30 billion due to the severe floods brought on by climate change. He continued by saying that commodity prices were also driven higher by the Ukraine situation.
He stated, “A country’s sound economic growth is linked with its political stability,” and went on to say that even a budget in the billions of rupees would be ineffective without political stability.
He assured the people that the administration understood their plight as a result of rising prices. We need to ensure that the middle class and the elderly can meet their most fundamental needs.
The PM was especially pleased with the reduction of the current deficit to $3.3 billion in 10 months, saying he hoped this would spur growth in the agricultural sector.
He expressed pride in the fact that, despite internal and external problems, the government had reduced its current account deficit to $3.3 billion.
The government has sprang into action to prevent the “undesirable” flight of foreign cash out of Pakistan and to encourage openness in the country’s exchange companies’ dealings with foreign currency.
