Islamabad_The talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over revival of stalled $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) remained successful and a formal announcement will be made soon, reported 24newsHD TV channel Thursday.According to the sources in Finance Ministry, the IMF has given the MEFP document.

The sources said an agreement has been reached with the IMF to take pre-emptive measures.

The IMF has assured to finalize the staff level agreement very soon and after that, the IMF loan agreement will be finalized.

The sources said that all the matters related to the agreement have been agreed upon by both sides.

The IMF mission will issue a detailed statement after approval from Washington.

Earlier, a virtual meeting between Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and IMF Mission was also held to discuss the revival of the loan.

Earlier in the day, Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that final round of negotiations with International Monetary Fund (IMF) is under way and is on the right track.

The finance minister said there is no hitch in the talks and everything is going fine. “More talks are going to be held with the IMF today. We will inform you very soon,” he told the reporters.

Dispelling the impression that there were differences between the government and the IMF, Ishaq Dar said negotiations with the money lending organisation were going on smoothly. “There will again be talks with the IMF’s delegation today,” Dar said, adding, “The nation will hear good news soon.”

The finance minister was responding to questions from reporters after addressing a road safety conference in Islamabad.

A delegation of the IMF, headed by Nathan Porter, is currently in Islamabad for discussions on the ninth review. The talks are scheduled to be concluded today.

The review’s completion would not only lead to a disbursement of $1.2bn from the IMF but also unlock inflows from friendly countries and other multilateral lenders that Pakistan needs to stave off default.

The negotiations with the IMF have been completed. The IMF has handed over the MEFP [Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies] document [to Pakistan],” he added.

At the same time, the secretary stressed that the international creditor assured Pakistani authorities of striking a staff-level pact in the coming days and the “agreement for releasing the loan will also be signed soon”.

“All matters between the IMF and Pakistan have been agreed upon,” Sheikh said — noting that the Washington-based lender’s mission has also assessed sources of foreign inflows.

It should be noted that during the policy-level talks, the IMF expressed its reservations over the projections made by the Ministry of Finance over external financing inflows from multilateral, bilateral creditors and in the shape of commercial loans.

He further added that the IMF mission, headed by Nathan Porter, would release a detailed statement later after approval from Washington.

The IMF’s loan is critical for the country’s $350 billion economy as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)-held foreign exchange reserves have fallen to $2.91 billion — enough to provide an import cover of 0.58 months.

Originally signed by former prime minister Imran Khan in 2019, the $6 billion bailout package repeatedly stalled after his government reneged on subsidy agreements and failed on its tax collection commitments outlined in the deal amid a yawning budget deficit.

The incumbent coalition government resumed the programme, and in August, it received around $1.17 billion under the seventh and eighth reviews of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

But the programme hit a bump in the road again in September — when the ninth review was due — after the authorities failed to live up to their promises with the lender and introduced a host of fiscal measures in contravention to the conditions agreed.

Later, as the forex reserves continued to deplete to dangerously low levels, the federal government, having no choice but to take the plunge, agreed to follow through with the IMF’s conditions to avoid the pains of default that would have created a Sri Lanka-like situation in the inflation-battered country.