IMF mission director for Pakistan, Nathan Porter, has said that this could be its last program if Pakistan honestly implements the economic proposals.
In an interview given to Voice of America, Nathan Porter discussed the obstacles facing Pakistan’s economic development, the role of the International Monetary Fund in Pakistan’s financial policy, and the reasons for the decline in foreign investment in the country.
After the approval of the loan program by the IMF, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement that the current loan program will be the last in Pakistan.
Asked about this, the IMF’s Pakistan Mission Director said this could be possible if Pakistan follows the economic proposals and completes the reform process.
He said that after the volatility and uncertainty that Pakistan’s economy witnessed in the middle of 2023, economic stability has come in the country, which can provide a good base for the economy to move forward.
Nathan Porter said that the world body’s effort will be that Pakistan maintains a strong macro exchange rate, fiscal and monetary policy, and liberalize or liberalize the economy and make its growth sustainable with the help of the private sector.
He said that with these steps, the current loan program for Pakistan could be the last program of the IMF.
Asked about the future and reviews of the IMF’s 24th loan program for Pakistan, Nathan Porter said that the first review of the current loan program will begin in December and will probably be taken to the board in March or April.
In this interview, Nathan Porter also answered questions related to several important aspects of the IMF’s loan program for Pakistan.
The IMF did not impose strict conditions.
In Pakistan, the government and some economists are saying that the IMF has imposed strict conditions for the recent program.
In a recent conversation with Voice of America, Pakistan’s Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the IMF had set strict conditions for the loan program due to a lack of confidence in Islamabad.
However, IMF Pakistan Mission Director Nathan Porter disagrees.
When asked about this, he said that the specific problems faced by any country are taken into account in the program and their solutions are given. In this sense, Pakistan’s current program is no different, nor is it more stringent.
Nathan said, “When we started the last program, the position Pakistan was in was very high inflation.
There was a large current account deficit and almost no economic growth. Then the goal was to stabilize the situation, which we succeeded in.”
