ISLAMABAD: Pakistani officials are optimistic about finalising a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s upcoming visit to the United States, Dawn reported on Friday.
According to the report, the finalisation hinges on reaching a consensus over Pakistan’s external account position and the verification of flood-related losses, along with fiscal adjustments between the federal and provincial governments. These matters are expected to be resolved during the IMF–World Bank annual meetings, which the Pakistani delegation — including the finance minister, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor, and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman — will attend this weekend.
Official sources told the paper that the IMF had shared a draft Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) with Pakistani authorities before its mission concluded a two-week visit to Karachi and Islamabad from September 24 to October 8. The mission held talks on the second review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
“We were close to concluding the SLA, but two critical data tables within the MEFP required further adjustments,” an official said, adding that the latest remittance figures had strengthened Pakistan’s position on the external account.
The official noted that the SBP would maintain a cautious monetary policy stance given the resurgence of inflation, while flood-related losses were still being verified.
The IMF, according to officials, emphasised that timely corrective steps — including tariff adjustments — were vital to ensuring financial sustainability. It also urged the government to release subsidies on schedule and ensure provincial payments for pending consumer bills in flood-affected districts.
Provinces, meanwhile, are expected to achieve their cash surplus targets after adjustments for flood-related losses. The federal government will continue a tight fiscal policy, particularly limiting development spending, with new projects in flood-hit regions remaining on hold.
In an end-of-mission statement issued Thursday, the IMF said “significant progress” had been achieved toward finalising the SLA for both the second EFF review and the first RSF review.
Pakistan expects to receive around USD 1.2 billion in combined disbursements from the two IMF programmes next month, pending board approval and the successful conclusion of policy-level discussions next week.
“Programme implementation remains strong and broadly in line with the authorities’ commitments,” the IMF said, noting that both sides would continue policy discussions to resolve any remaining issues. The mission also expressed sympathy for those affected by the recent floods.
