IMF program ‘on track’, insists Miftah

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Monday dismissed reports about the postponement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme for Pakistan and stated that there was “no truth” to them.

The Finance Ministry shared Ismail’s tweet in response to a Global Village Space report claiming that “according to the latest information, the IMF program is further delayed & this time deadlock is all about anti-corruption laws along with other financial measures of increasing gas & electricity prices. The government is ready to adopt all financial measures except reconsideration of NAB laws”.

The finance minister tweeted, “I have been reading with some amusement all the tweets and stories about IMF program being postponed or delayed due to some anti-corruption law. There is no truth to it. The IMF program is on track”.

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Meanwhile, no one in the Finance Ministry was willing to respond to questions on whether any response from the relevant ministries had been received on sections in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) from the Fund concerning their ministries.

The finance minister stated during a press conference on 1st July 2022 that power, petroleum and other ministries-related sections in the MEFP were sent to them for their response, which was under preparation.

He further said that as soon as replies are received they would be correlated before dispatching to the Fund.

An official confirmed to this correspondent that the ministries would send their replies to the Finance Ministry and not directly to the IMF.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022