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Dar reiterates Pakistan’s commitment to IMF programme

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2 years ago

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  • Commitment comes during Dar’s meeting with US diplomat.
  • He apprises the American diplomat about economic situation.
  • Schofer confident in Pakistan’s policies and programmes.

ISLAMABAD: In a meeting with US Embassy Charge’d Affaires Andrew Schofer, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Wednesday reiterated the federal government’s commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

During the meeting at the Finance Division, the finance minister informed Schofer about the ongoing IMF programme and assured him that the coalition government “is committed to completing the programme”, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Finance.

In response, the statement said, Schofer voiced his confidence in Pakistan’s policies and programmes for economic stability and extended his support to advance the existing economic and trade relations between the two states.

The finance minister apprised the American diplomat about the economic situation and discussed the current challenges it was facing.

He further communicated about the difficult policy decisions recently being taken by the government with the aim of stabilising and subsequently boosting the economy, ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth.

During the meeting, Schofer and Dar also exchanged views on “remarkable bilateral relations held with the United States on economic and trade fronts”.

Dar thanked the US charge’d affaires and reiterated the government’s desire to expand bilateral trade and investment ties with the US.

The meeting comes a day after The News — citing sources — reported that Pakistani authorities and the Washington-based lender were blaming each other for the delay in the revival of the bailout programme.

Official sources told the publication on Monday that both the IMF and Pakistan were holding each other responsible for the “unwarranted delay” in the completion of the outstanding ninth review and reviving the stalled programme after the lapse of almost 80 days since both sides completed Islamabad parleys on February 9.

According to the report published in The News, Pakistan’s options for reviving the IMF programme are shrinking with the passage of every day. It is yet to be ascertained how the country will proceed to accomplish the existing IMF programme, which expires on June 30, 2023.

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Business

Robust activity lets PSX climb above 115,000 level again.

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On Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) resumed its upward trend, crossing 115,000 points once more.

The PSX had strong action in the morning session, as the KSE-100 index increased by 1,000 points to 115,138.

The notoriously volatile PSX closed Thursday at 114,037 points, up 594 points.

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Meanwhile, in the interbank market this morning, the US dollar fell 7 paisas to Rs278.65 against the Pakistani rupee.

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SBP will announce monetary policy on January 27.

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The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will release its monetary policy on Monday.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP will convene on the first day of the following week to make decisions on monetary policy.

The Monetary Policy decision will be announced by Governor SBP Jameel Ahmad at a news conference on the same day after the MPC meeting, according to an official release.

In December, the central bank reduced policy rates by 200 basis points (bps) to 13 percent.

“In November 2024, headline inflation fell to 4.9 percent year on year, meeting the MPC’s estimates. This decrease was mostly caused by the ongoing decline in food inflation and the phasing out of the impact of the gas tariff increase in November 2023,” SBP stated in an official release.

“However, the Committee noted that core inflation, at 9.7 percent, is proving to be sticky, while consumer and business inflation expectations remain volatile.” To that end, the Committee restated its previous assessment that inflation may remain volatile in the short term before stabilizing within the target range.

“At the same time, growth prospects have slightly improved, as evidenced by a recent increase in high-frequency indicators of economic activity.” Overall, the Committee concluded that its approach of gradual policy rate decreases is keeping inflationary and external account pressures under control while promoting long-term economic growth.

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Finance Minister Meets With World Leaders at World Economic Forum in Davos

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During his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has met with officials of organisations and leaders of many nations.
Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor, Muhammad Younas, met with Mohammad Aurangzeb.
On the fringes of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025 Opening Banquet, there was an informal meeting.
Additionally, the Finance Minister met with Anwar Ibrahim, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Both leaders discussed economic cooperation and bilateral ties.
Muhammad Aurangzeb also had a meeting with Dp World’s Rizwan Soomro and Yuvraj Narayan.
They talked about how to strengthen Pakistan’s logistics and infrastructure systems to support trade.
“The Pakistani government is committed to advancing joint projects and values partnerships in both business-to-business and business-to-government cooperation,” the finance minister added.

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