Pakistan In Focus - IMF sticks to its guns on staff-level agreement.

Pakistan emphatically requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday to show some flexibility and sign the staff-level agreement, however, it could not get a date despite Islamabad's growing concerns about the fallout of a worsening economic crisis.

The request was made by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in a virtual meeting with Jihad Azour, the IMF's director for the Middle East and Central Asia Department. However, the minister could not get the desired result, as the IMF once again raised the issue of petrol subsidy and possible fiscal leakages as a result of the implementation of the subsidy plan.

The two sides discussed the...