Pakistan set to request 3-month IMF extension

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

ISLAMABAD: A formal request seeking a three-month extension in the ongoing $11.3 billion stand-by arrangement programme will be soon made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an official source informed Pakistan Today on Friday.
The source said there was no chance that the government would abandon the standby arrangement programme and would endeavour to complete it as agreed with the IMF. The three-month extension was already inbuilt in the exiting programme and its approval would be required from the Executive Board of the IMF which could meet on a one-week notice, he said.
He said that the formal request was already approved by the economic managers and would be sent to the board after the government’s consent. On the implementation of the reformed GST, the source said that the federal government had devised a strategy and the bill would be ready after minor irritants on the reformed GST were finalised with the provinces on December 7 and 8.
Talking to reporters, Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar said the government would go to the IMF for an extension in the standby arrangement programme at a favourable time. She said reform was a difficult process and many problems arose when they are implemented. However, she added that the government accepted IMF’s pressure only on the reforms which were in the country’s favour.
She said power sector reforms were on target as PEPCO was disbanded and new boards of generation, distribution and transmission companies would be installed soon. However, she avoided replying when asked whether the removal of the boards was done legally by the government. She said the power subsidy worth Rs 256 billion was an issue as it exceeded even the civil government’s cost which was Rs 165 billion.
The standby arrangement programme is at the halt since August because of the government’s failure to implement revenue and power sector reforms. The IMF has withheld the last two tranches of $3.4 billion, which it had categorical said would be released only after the implementation of the reformed GST and power sector reforms.