Over the coming months, inflation will start to slow down: SBP
According to the governor, the uncertainties surrounding external finance will also vanish with the restart of the IMF program.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country’s inflation is anticipated to begin slowing down over the coming few months.
Jameel Ahmad, governor of the central bank, stated in a statement that “and with the revival of the IMF programme, the uncertainty regarding external financing will also fade away.”
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are less than a month’s worth, and it has been waiting since November for an IMF bailout package worth $1.1 billion due to problems with its fiscal strategy.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) had earlier reaffirmed to the IMF its bilateral support of $1 billion for Pakistan, which was the final requirement to finalise staff-level agreements with the international lender, according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
The finance minister said via his official Twitter account that the State Bank of Pakistan was currently “engaged for necessary documentation for taking the said deposit from UAE authorities.”
IMF gatherings
Pakistan strongly urged the IMF to be flexible and sign the staff-level agreement during a previous meeting, but it was unable to secure a date despite rising worries in Islamabad about the effects of a deepening economic crisis.
In a virtual meeting with Jihad Azour, the IMF’s director for the Middle East and Central Asia Department, Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, made the request. The IMF, however, continued to bring up the subject of petrol subsidies and potential fiscal leakages as a result, thus the minister was unable to achieve the intended outcome.
