ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide a $4.2 billion lifeline to Pakistan on an annual basis in shape of cash assistance and oil on deferred payments, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia would deposit $3 billion cash in the State Bank of Pakistan and also provide $1.2 billion worth of oil on deferred payments, said Chaudhry while talking to The Express Tribune. It is the second financial assistance package that the…
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ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has agreed to revive its financial support to Pakistan, including about $3 billion in safe deposits and $1.2bn to $1.5bn worth of oil supplies on deferred payments. An agreement to this effect was reached during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the kingdom this week, a senior government official told Dawn. However, a formal announcement would be made by PM’s adviser on finance and revenue Shaukat Tarin and Energy Minister…
ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has placed a condition on Pakistan to close all the bank accounts maintained by public sector entities and the defence ministry in commercial banks. The money should be transferred to the central bank’s account. The demand is aimed at bringing back hundreds of billions of rupees under the government’s control that are currently placed with the commercial banks in violation of various instructions by the finance ministry. Sources told…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has accepted most of the new conditions of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF)and any reports that talks have failed are “premature” at this stage, sources within the Ministry of Finance said on Saturday. The sources said Pakistan will have to ensure the implementation of a privatization programme to secure the IMF loan programme. According to the sources, Pakistan will have to comply with the IMF’s new conditions if it wanted the loan programme…
Pakistan finds itself stuck in FATF’s grey list for one of three reasons, quite obviously. One, it is trying to do what it can to make progress – a fact acknowledged by the watchdog itself – and is unable to get it perfectly right; hence the one or two points that remain unaddressed each time. Two, it appears as if it is trying to clamp down on terror-funding, etc, but is not really doing so;…
Pakistan should ‘do more’ is the mantra of the international financial regulator. The Paris-based anti-money laundering arm, FATF, believes that Pakistan be retained on the grey list, and put under increased monitoring. Islamabad has made great strides in implementing the 2021 action plan by addressing four out of the seven new items. Yet, the point of concern remains investigation and prosecution of money-laundering cases, confiscation of assets and UN listing of the terror accused. This…
PAKISTAN’S hopes of exiting the so-called FATF grey list have been shattered once again. The global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog decided to keep the country under enhanced monitoring for another four months at its virtual plenary session on Thursday. But then, we all knew deep down that we’re still some distance away from being taken off the list despite having made considerable progress on the two concurrent FATF and Asia Pacific Group action…
ISLAMABAD:In a major development, the government is considering imposing a federal tax on agricultural income to meet a demand by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and legal experts say it is possible without amending the Constitution. The proposal has been discussed between Pakistan and the IMF and a draft of the legal amendment has also been prepared, sources told The Express Tribune. The sources added that the tax authorities have told the IMF that the…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the IMF staff could not finalise the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) for completion of the 6th Review under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The government is really in a Catch-22 situation as with the IMF or without the IMF programme, there are risks attached to every scenario. The State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves decreased by $1.6 billion in the last two weeks as Pakistan had…
WASHINGTON: The last member of the Pakistani delegation, Finance Secretary Yousaf Khan, has also left Washington without securing an arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the resumption of a $6 billion extended loan facility. The IMF may issue a statement over the weekend or early next week, explaining how the Fund’s economic reform programme, which includes the loan, can be revived. Pakistani officials, however, insist that the talks are still on track and…
Living on loans : Op-ed By Azim M Mian in The News, Oct 27, 2021
The writer is a journalist based in the US.Pakistani officials who were on a long official trip to the US, which started in early October, for negotiating the revival of the $6 billion loan IMF package kept promising ‘good news’ for Pakistan. In their press talks, they would confidently imply that the IMF could announce the next tranche for Pakistan as soon as the next day. On the other hand, IMF officials kept their silence…