ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Formal negotiations between the government and a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission for the fourth review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the third review of the Resilience Support Facility (RSF) are expected to begin today (Monday).
Official sources said the mission, led by Iva Petrova, would stay for almost two weeks, until the first week of October, to conduct the fourth review of the EFF and the third review of the RSF.
Pakistan is currently under a 37-month IMF programme aimed at stabilising the economy through fiscal discipline, structural reforms and measures to support long-term growth.
Upon successful completion of the reviews, Pakistan will be eligible for the disbursement of about $1 billion (760 million Special Drawing Rights) under the EFF and another $200m under the RSF by the end of November or early December, a total of $1.2bn.
‘No govt financing’
Meanwhile, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad clarified on Sunday that the government was not buying any aircraft for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which was privatised through an auction in December last year.
“The government is neither buying aircraft for a privatised PIA, nor has it announced any sovereign guarantee of taxpayer-funded loan for doing so,” Mr Schehzad posted on X following claims on social media that a minister was arranging and negotiating sovereign-linked financing for the jets.
The claims came after a recent meeting between Finance Minister Aurangzeb and Chairman of the US Export-Import (Exim) Bank John Jovanovich on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The finance ministry said the two discussed the Reko Diq mining project and funding opportunities for procuring an aircraft for PIA.
The finance minister shared PIA’s interest in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners and “sought support for a financing package covering aircraft and engines”. However, Mr Schehzad pointed out in his post that the US Exim’s “mandate, like export credit agencies elsewhere, is to support its country’s exports and jobs”.
“Boeing aircraft are US exports. US Exim provides financing support to foreign purchasers of US-manufactured aircraft, including airlines, through established financing structures,” he added.
“US Exim’s own framework provides for asset-backed aircraft financing, where financing can be secured against the aircraft itself and credit assessed on the airline/lessee and/or guarantor, if any. A sovereign guarantee is therefore not an automatic requirement.”
He added that Mr Aurangzeb’s discussions with US Exim were not confined to PIA. They covered potential financing across aviation, refinery upgrades and Reko Diq as part of a much broader Pakistan-US economic engagement.
