‘Kindly refrain from emailing Mr. Porter and Ms. Kozack...,’ IMF tells BR

ISLAMABAD: What is the maximum possible International Monetary Fund (IMF) fresh programme loan that can be extended to Pakistan given its quota and when is the Board meeting to discuss the second and final tranche release of the nine months Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) likely to be scheduled.

These queries were sent by this correspondent to Julie Kozack, Director Communications, IMF in Washington DC, Nathan Porter, the mission leader for the SBA, and Resident Representative in Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz on 5 April and then again on 15 April 2024.

Aurangzeb explains why Pakistan needs larger, longer IMF programme

No response was received to these queries however on 16 April Ruiz messaged the following: “kindly refrain from emailing Mr. Porter and Ms. Kozack and direct to me. On our communications approach please rest reassured that I will get back to the media community in sync, for the sake of evenhandedness, whenever deemed appropriate.”

Pakistan’s economic team, led by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, is currently in Washington to attend spring meetings 2024 of the World Bank Group and IMF.

Pakistan has begun negotiations for a new multi-year IMF loan programme, said Aurangzeb during an interview in Washington on Monday.

On March 20, the Fund issued a statement after Staff-Level Agreement on the second and final review and stated that they expect the review to be considered by the IMF’s Board in late April.

However, the IMF Executive Board is yet to be updated and give its schedule for taking Pakistan case on its agenda.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024