Formal talks between the government and a group from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who are visiting for the review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the third review of the Resilience Support Facility (RSF) are set to start today which is Monday.
Officials mentioned that the team, led by Iva Petrova will remain for two weeks until the first week of October to do the fourth review of the EFF and the third review of the RSF.
Pakistan is currently in a 37-month IMF programme that is meant to help the economy become stable by using discipline, making changes to the structure of the economy and taking steps to help the economy grow over a long period of time.
If the reviews go well, Pakistan will be able to get a payment of $1 billion (760 million Special Drawing Rights) under the EFF and another $200 million under the RSF by the end of November or early December. That adds up to a total of $1.2 billion.
‘No government financing’
Meanwhile, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad clarified on Sunday that the government is not buying any aircraft for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The airline was privatised through an auction in December.
“The government is neither buying aircraft for PIA nor has it announced any sovereign guarantee of a taxpayer-funded loan for doing so ” Mr Schehzad posted on X. This came after social media claims that a minister was arranging and negotiating sovereign-linked financing for the jets.
The reports came after a 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 talked about the Reko Diq mining project and funding options for buying an aircraft for PIA.
The finance minister talked about PIA’s interest in Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Asked for help with a financing plan that includes the planes and their engines. Mr. Shehzad wrote in his post that the US Exim job, like other export credit agencies, is to help support exports and jobs in the United States.
Boeing planes are exports from the United States. The US Exim offers help to people who buy US-made planes, including airlines using existing financial plans, he said.
The US Exim has its system for financing planes that are backed by the planes themselves. The financial support can be given based on the airline or the person who is renting the plane or someone who guarantees the payment. A guarantee from the government is not something that always has to be
He also said that Mr Aurangzebs talks with the US Exim were not about PIA. They included financial help for other areas in aviation, upgrading refineries, and Reko Diq as part of a much bigger effort to improve the economy between Pakistan and the United States.
