Eyebrows were raised over the IMF’s rare move to present a report to the board ahead of loan talks

ISLAMABAD: For the first time in the country’s history, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) preferred to disclose that the mission would present a report to the Executive Board to take a final decision based on preliminary findings on Pakistan’s request to strike a new package rescue.

In the past, it was never done by the IMF in the case of Pakistan. the mission evaluation was shared with the Fund’s management and board in a confidential manner, but was never made public.

This time that practice was completely changed and it was unique that the IMF made it clear that with the approval of the Fund’s management, the mission would prepare a report for the Executive Board for discussion and decision in order to begin any formal negotiations with the Pakistani authorities for entering into any loan agreement. Usually, after the IMF mission, both sides used to check the statement or any staff report. If it has been done this time too, there is no official version available on it.

This secretary sent questions to the finance minister, the federal finance secretary and the finance ministry spokesman, but did not receive a response.

The IMF publicly states that “End-of-mission press releases include statements by IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a country visit. The views expressed in this statement are those of IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF Executive Board.

“Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF’s Executive Board for discussion and decision,” it added.

This part of the public disclosure clearly indicates that the IMF’s management and then its Executive Board will make a decision on Pakistan’s request for a new program based on the preliminary findings of the mission that recently visited Islamabad for preliminary talks.