ISLAMABAD, Apr 16: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have finalised, documented and signed a bailout package on exchange rate, public finance, fiscal deficit and energy prices and an IMF mission will be visiting Islamabad in the third week of the current month to work out technical tables, said Finance Minister Asad Umar, reports DAWN.
"We have reached an agreement and all the major issues have been settled and documented," Mr Umar told a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Monday after a weeklong visit to the US.
He also reported that Pakistan had dispatched a compliance report to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that would be reviewed by the Paris-based agency before sending its delegation to Islamabad by the third week of May for on-ground inspection.
He said the IMF staff mission would visit Islamabad this month to conclude various technical tables that would then be shared with the NA committee.
The finance minister later told journalists that the bailout package with the IMF had been "agreed upon in writing and we have an agreement on all policy matters". These matters included exchange rate, fiscal deficit, energy, public finance and public sector entities, he added.
He said the exact size of the fund programme had not be concluded, adding that it would be between $6 billion and $8 billion. He said major flows would then come from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank that had been blocked in the pipeline owing to insufficient import cover and the absence of IMF umbrella.
He said Pakistan's financing gap was around $15bn while $7-8bn from the World Bank, $6-8bn from IMF and ADB would be available while the process for launch of international bonds had already been started. He said he had engagements with leading fund managers and investors in New York and he was happy to report that Pakistan's bond price had dropped from 9 to 7pc and overall environment was very encouraging for Pakistan's paper.
He said it would be premature to talk about bond size but the process for its launch had been triggered and may be materialised by the end of current fiscal year or at the start of the next fiscal year.
Asked about reported IMF demands for complete details of Chinese loans, the finance minister said such reports were unfounded and surprising because the fund had asked questions on the subject in October last year and all the details of the Chinese assistance were provided as the government felt there was nothing to hide.
Responding to another question, he said the IMF conditions would not burden the people, rather the difficult decisions required to correct the economy marred by problematic policies, for example Rs600bn deficit in power and gas sector alone, of the past would have some costs. He said the tax amnesty scheme would be presented to the cabinet for approval and go into effect over the next two-three days. Asked about the adjustments in energy prices under the IMF programme, he said the government had not taken any decision about energy prices.
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