Islamabad: On Wednesday, Pakistan reached out to the delegation of the United States (US) in an attempt to seek their help for the revival of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF Programme) ninth review. Finance Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar met the delegation of the US. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department, Robert Kaproth, led the US delegation. Senior-level officials from both sides were present at the meeting.
During the meeting in Islamabad, Ishaq Dar asked the delegation to convince the multilateral lender to show some leniency towards Pakistan as the country has faced the devastating challenge of floods and several other factors have weakened the country’s economy. According to media reports, Ishaq Dar said that they are in the process of taking some tough decisions like increasing the prices of electricity & gas along with several other decisions. He added that Pakistan would honour all the commitments to ensure it attains stability.
Ishaq Dar also pointed out that the local currency has been facing immense pressure due to the smuggling of foreign currency. Recently, multiple reports have stated that the US dollar is smuggled to Iran & Afghanistan as both states are facing a shortage of greenback. He also reiterated the statement that the incumbent government inherited a weak economical structure. In reply, Robert Kaproth has assured the finance minister to extend the cooperation and support required to tackle the economical issues of Pakistan, like revival of IMF programme.
It is pertinent to mention that for the past few months, the uncertainty of the IMF programme has shackled the confidence of investors. Subsequently, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) faces pressure and drops into the red zone. However, the benchmark KSE-100 index showed some progress on Tuesday and gained over 750 points. The hope of the IMF ninth review’s revival became the prime reason for a positive trend in the PSX.