The staff-level agreement (SLA) between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) won’t be signed until the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) confirm their financial support, as per local media reports.
The staff-level agreement will be signed with the IMF as soon as the IMF receives support confirmation from the KSA and UAE, according to media reports citing a source.
It further stated that the concerns with the IMF will be resolved shortly after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar assured diplomats in Islamabad over an Iftar dinner on Sunday.
The review negotiations between the IMF and Pakistan ended on February 9 in Islamabad, and even though it has been nearly 46 days, the finance minister declared the next day that virtual negotiations had started and that the staff-level agreement will be signed soon.
There have been divergent opinions on the subject of cross-fuel subsidies inside the Finance Ministry because of the timing of the release. How the ministry will satisfy the international lender regarding the subsidies is still unknown.
Reports stated that at this moment, they were unaware of any developments on the disputed cross-fuel subsidy issue.
The deadline for the tenth review was February 3 of this year. Since the 11th review is scheduled on May 3, it is unclear how both parties will proceed even with the program’s revival.
