IMF team meets PTI leadership to seek assurance on standby agreement

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership on Friday welcomed the $3 billion standby agreement (SBA) reached between International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the incumbent Pakistan government to preserve macroeconomic stability ahead of general elections, ARY News reported.

Taking to Twitter, PTI leader Hammad Azhar said that an IMF resident representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz visited Zaman Park for meeting his party chief, Imran Khan, while IMF mission chief for Pakistan Nathan Porter joined virtually from Washington.

Hammad Azhar added the PTI team included him, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Shaukat Tarin, Omar Ayub Khan, Sania Nishtar, Shibli Faraz, Taimur Jhagra and Muzammil Aslam.

The meeting lasted for more than an hour, during which “discussions took place around the staff-level agreement that IMF has reached with the Government of Pakistan for a nine-month $3 billion standby arrangement and in this context, we support the overall objectives and key policies”, the PTI leader said.

“We welcome the SBA to preserve macroeconomic stability by anchoring external financing and sound policies ahead of the national elections due in the fall of this year and until a new government is formed,” he added.

The former federal minister further said his party wished to stress the “importance of programs to protect the lower-income segments of the population from high inflation”.

Hammad Azhar stated that the PTI considered political stability and the rule of law as integral to the economic stability of Pakistan.

“Following free, fair, and timely elections as per the constitution, a new government mandated by the people will initiate reforms and engage on a longer term basis with multilateral institutions to further economic transformation, higher and more inclusive growth,” he added.

The Washington-based lender is seeking the support of major political parties — including the PTI, ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — for the recently announced billion bailout programme.

Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have recently struck a staff-level agreement for the provision of $3 billion for nine months as a bailout package under a stand-by arrangement (SBA). The agreement replaced the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) which Pakistan entered in 2019 and which was expired on June 30.

The SBA is a bail-out package for offering emergency relief to strengthen Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.

IMF team meets PPP

Earlier in the day, IMF officials held a meeting with economic team of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), seeking assurance of their support for ‘key objectives’ under the new $3 billion Standby Agreement with Pakistan.

The IMF officials held a meeting with Naveed Qamar and Saleem Mandiwala – PPP’s economic team – to seek assurance on the bailout deal.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed $3 billion Standby Agreement – reached between the global lender and the government of Pakistan. Meanwhile, the PPP extended its support for program in the ‘wider interest of the country’.