Once Omar Hamid Khan and other senior officials of the Finance Division and the local IMF officials were also present.

The IMF team arrived in Pakistan on Monday for first quarterly review of Islamabad's performance under its $6b Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The IMF in July this year had approved a three-year, $6 billion loan to support Pakistan's economic plan.

Pakistan had already received an upfront disbursement of $991 million on completion of all prior actions committed by Pakistan before signing the fund programme.

The IMF had linked the remaining tranches with the economic performance in each quarter. Shaikh informed the delegation that the incumbent government is focusing on implementation of the IMF programme.

'The containment of current and fiscal deficits and stabilisation of exchange rate are indicative of the success of government efforts to put the economy on the long-term growth track,' he...