Pakistan finance secretary sees IMF staff level talks wrapping up this week
Live MintPakistan expects to conclude talks with the International Monetary Fund over a staff level agreement as soon as this week, the country's finance secretary said, in a crucial step towards unlocking funds to battle an economic crisis. An IMF mission spent more than a week in Islamabad earlier this month to discuss a policy framework to allow the release of more than $1 billion in funding from a stalled $6.5 billion bailout package, originally approved in 2019. The staff level agreement would need approval from the IMF's board before the funds can be released. Other measures that still need to be taken to finalise the agreement include raising interest rates, which already stand at 17%, as well as obtaining commitments for more bilateral and multilateral funding, officials say.