According to The News, the staff-level agreement with the IMF seems to be delayed once again, as Pakistan has not yet received confirmation from the United Arab Emirates regarding the additional one billion dollars, the staff-level with the IMF. There is still one hurdle in the way of a deal.A senior Finance Ministry official told this correspondent on Wednesday night that the government had held high-level contacts with the Emirati authorities and matters were in the process of being processed for an additional $1 billion.
According to another senior official, the UAE has not confirmed so far and this is the obstacle to the staff level agreement. When asked about the petrol subsidy, he said it cannot be implemented. This should not be an obstacle to the agreement.On the other hand, sources are saying that there is a possibility of receiving a written guarantee from the United Arab Emirates this week for the financing of one billion dollars.
According to sources, in this regard, the secretary of the Ministry of Finance will inform the IMF during the annual meetings in Washington.Sources in the Ministry of Finance say that matters have been finalized for the financing of one billion dollars from the United Arab Emirates and as soon as the guarantee is received from the UAE authorities, the IMF will also get a written guarantee. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Minister had requested friendly countries to fulfill the conditions.