Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has left for the United States on Thursday for a meeting with the officials of the International Monetary Fund. The meeting is scheduled for the revival of the Extended Fund Facility that had come to a halt following a dramatic premature end to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government.
Miftah made the announcement on Twitter, stating that he was going “to try and put back on track our IMF program that PTI and IK derailed”. He also said that he would meet the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif in London.
I am off to Washington DC to try and put back on track our IMF program that PTI and IK derailed, this endangering our economy. And more happily, after 3 years of being on ECL, I will get to travel to London on the way and meet my leader Mian Nawaz Sharif.
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) April 20, 2022
It has been reported that the IMF is unhappy with the subsidies provided to the general public by the previous prime minister Imran Khan and wants the current government to do away with them as they directly went against the commitments made with the IMF. On the other hand, Miftah has already said that his first and foremost priority would be to secure the $1b tranche and prepare for the upcoming budget accordingly.