Islamabad: The Pakistan government will submit its finalised budget draft, along with a report on compliance with all prior actions, to the International Monetary Fund on July 3 – a news source reported.
The budget and the report will feature as the key elements in IMF’s board meeting geared towards granting Pakistan’s request for access to a $6 billion bailout facility.
According to a senior government official, the government’s completion of all prior actions has paved the way for the board meeting next week. He said that the budget approval was the final development which Pakistan had to deliver before the IMF meeting. Other key prior actions included the actions on exchange rate, SBP policy rate, and electricity and gas rates.
A Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP), to this effect, had already been transmitted to the IMF in line with the staff level agreement reached on May 12, according to officials. Pakistan will remain committed throughout the 39-month programme period to what the State Bank calls a ‘market determined exchange rate’.
However, if at any stage the central bank comes across reasonable evidence to suggest artificial exchange rate manipulation at the hands of outside forces, it will be free to intervene in the proceedings.
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