ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar left Islamabad for Dubai on Friday morning for Article – 4 consultations with IMF team in Dubai.
The Finance Ministry had invited an IMF delegation for the consultations, which was scheduled to visit Pakistan in the early days of the current month.
However, in view of the security situation, the IMF team expressed its inability to come to Pakistan and the consultations had been rescheduled in Dubai.
Officials of Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) started Article 4 consultations in Dubai on Tuesday and Islamabad gave a detailed briefing on the economic situation in the country to the Fund. The talks will continue till April 5 in Dubai.
Pakistan had said goodbye to the IMF last year after completing three years extended fund facility programme worth $6.64 billion. However, every member country of the IMF, including Pakistan, need clean chit from the Fund on the economic situation of the country every year.
Pakistan would be in better situation for getting loans from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other international financial institutions if IMF shows satisfaction on Islamabad’s economic situation.
The government would inform the Fund of the recent economic situation in the country. Similarly, the economic team of the government would discuss the budget for the next financial year 2017-18, according to the sources.
Despite several critical issues that the IMF would raise, including shortage in FBR collection, the government has so far restricted the inflation below the target of six percent, which was set for the current fiscal year 2016-17. Inflation has gone up by 3.9 percent during first eight months (July-February) of the ongoing financial year over a year ago.
