PM Shehbaz hopeful of inking agreement with IMF this month

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that the government will sign an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this month.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Green Line Train service at the Margalla Train Station, the PML-N President said that the government would soon reach an agreement with the IMF this month and the country would come out of these difficulties.

Considering the dire situation of the foreign exchange reserves, the PM said, the government has developed a list of items that need to be imported based on their necessity. He added that the list includes food and medical items.

Commenting on Green Line train, the premier said that the foundation laying ceremony of the project was held during his brother Nawaz Sharif’s tenure but like other projects, “this one also failed to take life”.

PM Shehbaz said Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique worked very hard to improve the department.

The premier said that he wished that ML-1 was not subject to “unnecessary accusations” adding that unnecessary corruption claims were made against Chinese companies and ties with Beijing were harmed.

The PM’s assurance comes a day after the global lender’s representative in Pakistan said that an IMF delegation will be visiting Pakistan soon to hash out details of the stalled ninth Extended Fund Facility review.