IMF’s program revival is crucial for Pak’s economy: PM Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD, August 30 (SABAH) : While declaring the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme critical to Pakistan’s economy, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday stressed on “breaking the economic straitjacket” through structural reforms.

In a tweet, Shehbaz Sharif said the programme offered a pathway to re-orient Pakistan’s economy and underlined that they would have to work hard to become self-sufficient.

“Revival of IMF program, though critical to our economy, is not an end in itself. It offers a pathway to reorient our economy. We will have to work hard to make it self-sufficient,” he said.

“Pakistan must break out of the economic straitjacket, which is only possible through structural reforms.”

His statement came a day after the IMF board approved the seventh and eighth reviews of Pakistan’s bailout programme, allowing for a release of over $1.1 billion to the cash-strapped economy.

The IMF agreed to extend the programme by a year and increase the total funding by 720 million special drawing rights, or about $940 million as per the current exchange.

The funds will be a lifeline to the country suffering from devastating floods which have inflicted damage of at least $10 billion, according to the planning minister.

In a statement, IMF Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Sayeh said adhering to scheduled increases in fuel levies and energy tariffs is “essential” as Pakistan’s economy “has been buffeted by adverse external conditions.”