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☆ Pakistan's Imran Khan expresses support for bailout deal in IMF meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Hammad Azhar, a former finance minister under Khan, who attended the meeting virtually, said in a post on Twitter that the former premier and his economic team had discussed last week's staff-level deal between the IMF and Pakistan's government. The new deal, which will be vital to help stabilise Pakistan's struggling $350 billion economy, will be taken up for approval by the IMF board on July 12. Khan's government deviated from agreements under an earlier IMF programme days before he was ousted in a parliamentary vote last year, leading to a delay in the implementation of the programme and increased economic uncertainty. The meeting is the highest profile engagement for Khan and his the PTI since he was ousted from power less than four years into his five-year term. Many of Khan's key aides remain under arrest and many others, like Azhar, are in hiding.

Persons: Khan, Imran Khan, Hammad Azhar, Azhar, Nathan Porter, Esther Perez Ruiz, Shehbaz Sharif, Gibran Peshimam, William Maclean, David Holmes Organizations: International Monetary Fund, IMF, Twitter, Mission, Khan's, PTI, Thomson Locations: KARACHI, Pakistan, Lahore

June 15 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s recently presented budget, a blow for the cash-strapped country which has only two weeks left until its bailout programme expires. However, the draft FY24 Budget misses an opportunity to broaden the tax base in a more progressive way," Esther Perez Ruiz, the IMF's resident representative for Pakistan, said in a text message to Reuters. "The new tax amnesty runs against program’s conditionality and governance agenda and creates a damaging precedent," added Perez Ruiz. She said that measures to address the energy sector’s liquidity pressures could be included alongside the broader budget strategy. Added Perez Ruiz: "The IMF team stands ready to work with the government in refining this Budget ahead of its passage," implying the country still has a chance to unlock its ninth IMF board review prior to the end of the EFF programme.

Persons: Pakistan’s, Esther Perez Ruiz, program’s, Perez Ruiz, Bharat Govind Gautam, Jonathan Oatis, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Monetary Fund, IMF, Fund, FX, Staff, Reuters, EFF, Thomson Locations: Pakistan, Bengaluru, Shahid, Karachi

☆ Watched by IMF, Pakistan to present budget amid economic, political crises
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] A labourer waits for work while sitting beside push trollies outside a market in Karachi, Pakistan June 8, 2023. Against the backcloth of this political drama, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is set to deliver his budget speech to parliament after 4:00 pm (1100 GMT) on Friday. Some budget figures were announced earlier this week, including development spending of 1,150 billion Pakistani rupees ($4 billion), and an economic growth target of 3.5% for the coming fiscal year. On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund said that it has been discussing the budget with Pakistan. Pakistan missed almost all of its economic targets set in the last budget, most notably its growth target, which was initially set at 5%, revised down to 2% earlier this year.

Persons: Akhtar Soomro, Shehbaz, Imran Khan, Ishaq Dar, Esther Perez Ruiz, Khan, Gibran Peshimam, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, IMF, Reuters, International Monetary Fund, Pakistan, Thomson Locations: Karachi, Pakistan, Akhtar Soomro ISLAMABAD

☆ Pakistan's external financing requirements for IMF deal unchanged - IMF
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KARACHI, May 14 (Reuters) - Pakistan's external financing requirements have not been changed in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over bailout funds, the IMF Resident Representative in Pakistan said, denying local media reports that the Fund was seeking fresh financing. Pérez Ruiz said that external funding requirements had not changed throughout the discussions, under a review that would unlock $1.1 billion in financing for the cash-strapped South Asian nation as part of a $6.5 billion IMF package. On Thursday, the Fund reiterated that obtaining commitments on external financing from friendly countries would be essential before the IMF approves the release of bailout funds. IMF Resident Representative Pérez Ruiz said that Pakistani authorities committed to the IMF during last month's spring meetings that they would not introduce the cross-subsidy scheme in fiscal year 2023 or beyond. "The announced fuel cross-subsidy scheme raises new quasi-fiscal and balance of payments risks, and it is amenable to fraud," she said, in a separate text message to Reuters.

☆ Pakistan's new fuel pricing scheme needs to be agreed before IMF deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Fayaz AzizISLAMABAD, March 24 (Reuters) - A long-awaited loan agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be signed once a few remaining points, including a proposed fuel pricing scheme, are settled, an IMF official confirmed on Friday. Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik told Reuters on Thursday that his ministry had been given six weeks to work out the pricing plan. But the IMF's resident representative in Pakistan, Esther Perez Ruiz, said the government had not consulted the fund about the fuel pricing scheme. Ruiz, in a message to Reuters, confirmed a media report that a staff level agreement would be signed once a few remaining points, including the fuel scheme were settled. With enough foreign reserves to only cover about four weeks of necessary imports, Pakistan is desperate for the IMF agreement to disperse a $1.1 billion tranche from a $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had said last week that the external financing assurance was not one of the IMF's conditions for clearance of the funding. Pakistan has completed almost all other measures needed except for the external financing requirement, officials say. Dar said last week that Pakistan will need $5 billion external financing to close its financing gap this fiscal year ending June 30, adding the IMF believed it should be $7 billion. Dar said hoped more external financing will be coming as Pakistan signs the IMF deal this week. Ruiz noted that the difference in foreign exchange rates between the open and informal markets has been very damaging for Pakistan, resulting in shortages of foreign exchange and consequently imported goods.

☆ At Mexico's Chichen Itza site, researchers discover ancient 'elite' residences
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Lorenzo Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A general view of "Casa de La Luna" during a media tour to Chichen Viejo at the archaeological site of Chichen Itza, in Piste, Mexico February 10, 2023. Archaeologist Francisco Perez Ruiz said there were no known residential groups in Chichen Itza, meaning the housing complex would represent "the first residential group where a ruler lived with his entire family." The area, known as Chichen Viejo, is expected to be integrated in the near future into the visitor area of the Chichen Itza archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. "There must be more residential groups that have not been explored yet. Around 2 million people visit Chichen Itza site in southeast Mexico each year, according to official data.

☆ Pakistan, IMF begin talks on $7 bln loan review
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The IMF understands that the floods have changed the macroeconomic assumptions on which the programme was designed," the ministry told Reuters. Pakistan reserves stood at $7.8 billion as of Nov. 18, barely enough to cover imports for a month. ARY News reported on Monday that the IMF had asked Pakistan to reduce expenses before talks on the ninth review. The ninth review has been pending since September. The IMF told Reuters last week that finalisation of a recovery plan from the floods was essential to support discussions, along with continued financial support from multilateral and bilateral partners.

Whacked further by a soaring dollar, indices of overseas sovereign bonds in dollar terms are down almost 24% - even worse than then S&P500's (.SPX) 19% year-to-date reversal. Far from portfolio buffers, these sorts of moves make bonds meat and drink for hedge funds. And even though equity prices have fallen and cheapened on many models, their relative value versus bonds has not. It trimmed expected equity returns by a quarter point. Reuters poll-U.S. treasury yield outlookRobeco Chart on Asset Allocation HistoryThe opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

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