Business

Pakistan to finalise IMF deal next month: Miftah Ismail

Published

3 years ago

Farwa

Miftah Ismail says requested IMF to provide $2 billion additional funds.
Country expects around $5 billion from Fund, finance minister says.
Households not registered with BISP can message CNIC on 786, he says.

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail assured Saturday the government would reach the staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by next month — June.

Hopes of the IMF programme’s revival rose Thursday after the federal government decided to raise the price of petroleum products by Rs30 as the Fund did not resume the programme due to the subsidies provided on oil and power.

Miftah, addressing a press conference alongside Minister of State for Finance Ayesha Ghous Pasha, said the funds — under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) — would be released after final approval by the IMF board.

The minister said that Pakistan has requested the Fund — which has to provide $3 billion — to extend the program by one year and provide an additional $2 billion.

If the international money lender agrees to provide Pakistan with the additional amount, the country expects around $5 billion from the Fund, the finance minister said.

He said that the IMF programme was important not just because the country gets money from the Fund, but it plays an important role in opening ways for getting additional funds from other multilateral organisations — like World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

The finance minister said once the Fund releases the latest tranche, Pakistan would get money from multilateral organisations, noting that around $8.9 billion were already in pipeline from World Bank.

Minister defends petrol price hike

The minister justified the increase in petrol prices, saying that no doubt it would increase inflation, but if the hike had not been done, it would lead to sky-rocketing inflation as the burden would fall on the government and resultantly, it would devaluation of rupee further.

He said after increasing the prices of petrol, not only rupee was strengthened against the dollar by around 2.5, but the stock market also moved positively.

The minister said the government intended to provide relief to the poor against the inflationary pressure, which was created due to the “incompetency” of the previous government.

He said the government would try its best to provide maximum relief to the poor of the country.

He added that Saudi Arabia has already announced the extension of its $3 billion deposits to Pakistan and hinted that some more support was expected from that country the details of which would be shared in July.

The relief programme’s details

Giving details about the PM’s relief package, the minister said that the ‘Sasta Petrol and Sasta Diesel’ scheme would benefit around one-third population of the country by providing cash to 14 million households (84 million people).

Disbursement of Rs2,000 to each household would start from June, bringing the total relief amount to Rs28 billion in June. He said around 7.3 million recipients were already registered with Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).

He said the BISP participants would be provided immediate relief or Rs2,000, whereas women heads of those households who are not registered should message their CNIC on 786 for registration for the program.

The finance minister shared that households having an income of less than Rs40,000 would be eligible for the relief. He said the relief scheme would be incorporated into the federal budget for the fiscal year 2022-23.

To a question on privatisation, the minister said there was no talk on privatisation with IMF this time.

However, he added, the country needed to privatise certain entities, including Discos and power companies for its own interest to reduce the burden on the national exchequer.

Business

SFD and Pakistan Sign Two Deals Totaling $1.61BLN

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

Two agreements totaling $1.61 billion have been inked by Pakistan and the Saudi Fund for Development to improve their bilateral economic cooperation.

Business

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign an MOU to strengthen their auditing industry collaboration.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

A spokesperson for the office of the Auditor-General of Pakistan (AGP) announced on Monday that the two countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in public sector auditing through improved cooperation between audit institutions of both countries, as well as training programs and the exchange of trainers.

This comes as a group from Saudi Arabia’s General Court of Audit (GCA), headed by GCA President Dr. Hussam bin Abdulmohsen Alangari, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday for a four-day visit.

The agreement was signed during AGP Muhammad Ajmal Gondal’s meeting with the Saudi delegates, aiming to strengthen audit cooperation, enhance knowledge-sharing, and improve governance, transparency and accountability in government spending.

Public relations officer Muhammad Raza Irfan of the AGP’s office told Arab News that the deal will further advance bilateral collaboration between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in addition to enhancing professional ties between the two nations’ auditing institutions.

In a statement released from his office, AGP Gondal was cited as saying, “This collaboration marks a significant step toward fostering international cooperation in auditing.”

“The exchange of ideas and methodologies will undoubtedly strengthen our capacity to meet emerging challenges and set new benchmarks for public accountability.”

Discussions at Monday’s meeting focused on fostering closer ties between the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, sharing innovative audit methodologies, and planning collaborative initiatives for the future, according to the AGP office.

The two parties decided to increase their knowledge of theme, environmental, and impact audits as well as to exchange best practices in audit standards, performance audits, and citizen participation audits.

The statement added, “It also agreed to exchange trainers, address new auditing challenges, plan cooperative audits, including a performance audit on the oil and gas sector in 2025, and work together on training programs.”

Both sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to promoting transparency, accountability and excellence in public sector auditing.

Business

The government chooses to continue the PIA privatization process.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) privatization process will be restarted by the federal government, and expressions of interest would be requested within the month. Officials stated that the Prime Minister’s Committee on Privatization will convene to make the final decision.

Usman Bajwa, the secretary of the Privatization Commission, gave a briefing on the updated procedure to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatization. Additionally, he disclosed that airlines other than PIA are now able to compete with regional carriers thanks to IMF-approved aircraft tax concessions.

Farooq Sattar, the chairman of the privatization committee, underlined the importance of giving PIA workers at least five years of job security. Employee protection will continue to be a top priority and will be resolved prior to bidding, the Privatization Commission promised.

PIA’s liabilities totaling Rs650 billion have already been assumed by the government, and an additional Rs45 billion in outstanding debts must be paid before the privatization process can begin. As of the now, PIA has assets around Rs155 billion and liabilities worth Rs200 billion. It will be necessary for the new buyer to expand the fleet by 15 to 20 aircraft.

Additionally, the Privatization Committee has sought a timeline for the privatization of Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Islamabad Electric Supply Companies. Officials stated that after the appointment of a financial advisor, the privatization process for these companies will accelerate.