ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Finance Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha ruled out any possibility of contemplating upon any other option Plan B in case Pakistan fails to woo International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive stalled loan programme.

“Let me say with clarity there were no other options that we are contemplating upon under Plan B in case of no revival of Fund programme as government was committed to reviving IMF programme by completing pending ninth review,” she said.

During briefing of National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance at Federal Board of Revenue headquarters, MNA Ali Pervez Malik questioned Dr Pasha about Plan B in case of failure to revive IMF programme and said that there was talk about dollar amnesty scheme to improve dollar liquidity.

She revealed that Fund did not accept external financing gap of $ 4.5 billion assessed by Pakistan.

Dr Pasha disclosed that IMF was still sticking to its projection of financing gap of $ 6 billion for ongoing financial year against Islamabad’s assessment of $ 4.5 billion on which assurances extended to IMF by multilateral as well as bilateral creditors. She said that government has shared budgetary framework for next fiscal year to satisfy IMF. However, Pakistan has been waiting for IMF’s response to share its recent steps to bridge gap between interbank and open market rates on exchange rates and assurances on external financing gaps.

Ongoing IMF programme is going to expire on June 30 therefore time is limited for completion of pending 9th review under $ 6.5 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Published in The Daily National Courier, June, 03 2023

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