Agreement reached with IMF, Pakistan to receive $1.17 billion soon: Miftah

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached an agreement on policies to complete the combined seventh and eighth reviews of Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
Under the agreement, Pakistan would receive $1.17 billion soon, tweeted Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail here on Thursday.
The minister thanked prime minister, fellow ministers, secretaries and especially the finance division for their help and efforts in obtaining this agreement.
“Pakistan and IMF have reached an agreement. We will soon receive $1.17 billion as the combined 7th & 8th tranche. I want to thank the PM, my fellow ministers, secretaries and especially the finance division for their help and efforts in obtaining this agreement,” the minister tweeted.
Earlier, in a statement issued from Washington, IMF said its staff and the Pakistani authorities have reached a staff level agreement (SLA) on policies to complete the combined 7th and 8th reviews of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
“The IMF team has reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the Pakistan authorities for the conclusion of the combined seventh and eight reviews of the EFF-supported program,” the statement said.
According to the statement, an IMF team, led by Nathan Porter finalized discussions for the combined seventh and eight reviews.
The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board, following which about $1,177 million (SDR 894 million) will become available, bringing total disbursements under the programme to about $4.2 billion.
Additionally, in order to support programme implementation and meet the higher financing needs in FY23, as well as catalyze additional financing, the IMF Board will consider an extension of the EFF until end-June 2023 and an augmentation of access by SDR 720 million that will bring the total access under the EFF to about US$7 billion.
“Pakistan is at a challenging economic juncture. A difficult external environment combined with procyclical domestic policies fueled domestic demand to unsustainable levels. The resultant economic overheating led to large fiscal and external deficits in FY22, contributed to rising inflation, and eroded reserve buffers,” it said.
To stabilize the economy and bring policy actions in line with the IMF-supported programme, while protecting the vulnerable, policy priorities include Steadfast implementation of the FY2023 budget.
The budget aims to reduce the government’s large borrowing needs by targeting an underlying primary surplus of 0.4 percent of GDP, underpinned by current spending restraint and broad revenue mobilization efforts focused particularly on higher income taxpayers.
Development spending will be protected, and fiscal space would be created for expanding social support schemes. The provinces have agreed to support the federal government’s efforts to reach the fiscal targets, and Memoranda of Understanding have been signed by each provincial government to this effect.
The policy priorities also include catching-up in power sector reforms. On the back of weak implementation of the previously agreed plan, the power sector circular debt (CD) flow is expected to grow significantly to about PRs 850 billion in FY22, overshooting programme targets, threatening the power sector’s viability, and leading to frequent power outages.
The authorities are committed to resuming reforms including, critically, the timely adjustment of power tariff including for the delayed annual rebasing and quarterly adjustments, to improve the situation in the power sector and limit load shedding, it added.
It also prioritized proactive monetary policy to guide inflation to more moderate levels. According to the IMF statement, the headline inflation exceeded 20 percent in June, hurting particularly the most vulnerable.
In this regard, the recent monetary policy increase was necessary and appropriate, and monetary policy would need to be geared towards ensuring that inflation is brought steadily down to the medium-term objective of 5-7 percent.
Importantly, to enhance monetary policy transmission, the rates of the two major refinancing schemes EFS and LTFF (which have over recent months been raised by 700 bps and 500 bps respectively) will continue to be linked to the policy rate. Greater exchange rate flexibility will help cushion activity and rebuild reserves to more prudent levels.
The programme also aims at reducing poverty and strengthen social safety. The statement said, during FY22, the unconditional cash transfer (UCT) Kafalat scheme reached nearly 8 million households, with a permanent increase in the stipend to PRs14,000 per family, while a one-off cash transfer of PRs2,000 (Sasta Fuel Sasta Diesel, SFSD) was granted to about 8.6 million families to alleviate the impact of rampant inflation.
For FY23, the authorities have allocated PRs 364 billion to BISP (up from PRs 250 in FY22) to be able to bring 9 million families into the BISP safety net, and further extend the SFSD scheme to additional non-BISP, lower-middle class beneficiaries.
Strengthening governance is another objective of the police. To improve governance and mitigate corruption, the authorities are establishing a robust electronic asset declaration system and plan to undertake a comprehensive review of the anti-corruption institutions (including the National Accountability Bureau) to enhance their effectiveness in investigating and prosecuting corruption cases.
“Steadfast implementation of the outlined policies, underpinning the SLA for the combined seventh and eighth reviews, will help create the conditions for sustainable and more inclusive growth.
The authorities should nonetheless stand ready to take any additional measures necessary to meet programme objectives, given the elevated uncertainty in the global economy and financial markets,” the statement added. – APP