Following Pakistan’s assurance to impose new taxes, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday ‘decided’ to send its review mission to Pakistan after election 2024, sources said. IMF will continue further talks on the Standby Arrangement (SBA) programme with the newly elected government of Pakistan after highly anticipated general elections. However, the “IMF has not confirmed the schedule for conducting the second review”. The last confirmation was made by the monetary fund in July 2023 which stated that the talks on the 2nd review will be held with the new government. The International Monetary Fund has already made a $1.9 billion disbursement out of the total $3 billion under the nine-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).  Sources said that newly elected government in Pakistan is expected to take full charge till the end of February 2024 after the general election.

It is important to note here that the International Monetary Fund Standby Arrangement (SBA) programme is set to end on April 12, 2024. If the second review is conducted successfully then Pakistan will likely receive the last tranche of $1.1 billion in April 2024. On January 17, Pakistan received $700 million loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the nine-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The development comes days after the Executive Board of the IMF completed the first review of Pakistan’s economic reform programme supported by the SBA. The Board’s decision allowed for an immediate disbursement of around $700 million, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about $1.9 billion.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)