KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday said Pakistan should accelerate the pace of structural reforms the government has committed to take under its $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, a move that would help the South Asian nation strengthen growth, maintain macroeconomic stability and boost exports.
Pakistan has undergone a difficult period of stabilization, marked by inflation, currency depreciation and financing gaps, though international rating agencies have acknowledged improvements after Islamabad began privatizing loss-making, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and ended subsidies as part of reforms under the IMF loan program.
Responding to questions from Arab News at a virtual media roundtable on emerging markets’ resilience, IMF’s director of the Middle East and Central Asia Jihad Azour said Islamabad’s implementation of the EFF requirements had been “strong” despite devastating floods that killed more than 1,000 people and devastated farmland, forcing the government to revise its 4.2 percent growth target to 3.9 percent.
“What is important going forward in order to strengthen growth and to maintain the level of macroeconomic stability is to accelerate the structural reforms,” he said at the meeting that was also attended by Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, IMF’s economic counsellor and director of the research department.
