IMF team to visit Pakistan on Nov 2 for first review of standby arrangement

KARACHI (Reuters): An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission will visit Pakistan on Nov 2 to discuss the first review of the country’s current $3 billion standby arrangement (SBA), the lender’s resident representative said.

The South Asian nation is trying to navigate a tricky path to economic recovery under a caretaker government in the wake of an IMF loan programme, approved in July, that helped avert a sovereign debt default. Under the programme, Pakistan received $1.2 billion from the IMF as the first tranche in July.

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“An International Monetary Fund team led by Mr Nathan Porter will field a mission to Pakistan starting in November 2 on the first review under the current Stand-By Arrangement,” the IMF’s resident representative to Pakistan, Esther Perez Ruiz, told Reuters.

The visit comes as the IMF is pressing Islamabad hard to privatise loss-making state-owned enterprises amid reports of the caretaker government moving ahead with the plan when it comes to PIA – the national flag carrier.