ISLAMABAD – A day after Prime Minister Imran Khan dissolved the National Assembly and announced early elections, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday assured Pakistan it would continue its support to the country “once the new government is formed”.
The Fund said in a brief statement, “There is no concept of suspension within the IMF programme.”
“I think as the country is in a [political] transition, they need authorities for commitment regarding policies,” Pakistan-Kuwait Investment Company’s Head of Research Samiullah Tariq told Geo.tv.
The statement from the IMF indicates the seventh review has ended and the three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) has been put on hold for the third time since it began in May 2019.
In May 2019, Pakistan and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies for a three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
Under the agreement, Pakistan was to receive about $6 billion for a period of 39 months, and so far it has received almost half it.
The IMF programme was scheduled to end in September.
Earlier, top official sources said the IMF and the now-former PTI-led government of Pakistan had reached a deadlock amid talks for the seventh review after the Fund discovered a yawning gap between the cost and official estimates provided by Pakistani authorities for the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s relief package and Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP).
