COAS Bajwa Contacts Saudi and UAE Governments to Discuss Pakistan-IMF Deal
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According to Geo News, Pakistan"s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa had also reached out to the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to discuss Pakistan"s agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This development comes just one week after top military official requested Washington"s assistance in obtaining an early funds release from the crisis lender.
The lender approached a staff-level contract with Pakistan for the loan earlier this month. The loan tranche, which is part of the IMF"s $6 billion Extended Fund Facility for Pakistan, won"t be released until the agency"s executive board approves it.
It is worth noting that the global lender is currently "on vacation," with no board meetings scheduled until later this month. The IMF has not specified a timetable for announcing loan approval for Pakistan.
In June, Pakistan and the IMF made progress on budget measures for 2022-23, with Islamabad committing to much more policy initiatives to resurrect the stalled EFF. The agreement resulted in the implementation of the highly contentious"super tax" on 13 industries, which include cement, steel, sugar, oil and gas, fertiliser, LNG, textile, banking, automotive, beverages, chemicals, and tobacco.
Pakistan started the 39-month, $6 billion IMF programme in 2019, but only about half of the funds have already been released due to the former"s failure to meet benchmarks.
