Govt to complete terms of IMF programme, vows PM Shehbaz.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said he had expressed his government's resolve to complete the terms of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) programme, in a conversation with the lender's managing director yesterday.

The telephone conversation comes as Pakistan's economy is increasingly febrile, with foreign exchange reserves amounting to fewer than three weeks of imports.

'In a phone call with Managing Director [Kristalina Georgieva] of the IMF yesterday, I told her about the government's resolve to complete the terms of IMF's program,' PM Shehbaz said on Twitter.

'I also explained Pakistan's economic difficulties especially after the devastating floods. IMF delegation will come to Pakistan soon.'

The premier's statement comes a day after he said an IMF delegation would come to Pakistan in 'two to three days' to finalise the ninth review of Pakistan's $7bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Pakistan entered a $6 billion IMF programme in 2019, which was increased to $7bn last year. The programme's ninth review, which would release $1.18bn, is currently pending. It had earlier been put off for two months due to the PML-N-led government's unwillingness to accept certain conditions placed before it by the Fund, and the disagreements have yet to be resolved.

Cash crunch

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