ISLAMABAD – Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail says he would leave for Washington today to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials for revival of $6 billion loan programme.
Speaking during “Meet the Press” at the National Press Club on Wednesday, the finance minister said PTI’s government had left landmines for the incumbent government. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyuam Aurangzeb was also present on the occasion.
Ismail said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked him to engage with the IMF for the resumption of the seventh review under the loan facility agreed in July 2019.
“The prime minister has ordered me to put fewer burdens on people and find a way to revive the IMF program,” Ismail said.
The new finance minister expressed optimism Pakistan would be able to reach a staff-level agreement with the international lending agency.
Negotiations with the IMF are currently stalled for the third time in three years after the seventh review talks collapsed when the PTI government announced fuel subsidies and a tax amnesty scheme.
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