IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice told a media briefing in Washington that the talks with Pakistan focused on reaching an understanding on policy priorities, reforms to stabilise the Pakistan’s economy and lay the foundations for sustainable and inclusive growth of the country. “We’ve had the formal request for financial assistance, we followed up with that and the discussions continue,” Rice told reporters. The e-GDDS was established by the IMF in 2015 to support improved data transparency, encourage statistical development, and help create synergies between data dissemination and surveillance. The sources had said that the government had given an overarching assurance to the IMF that Pakistan would make adjustments in fiscal policies, tighten import regime and a monetary policy would primarily aimed at targeting inflation. They had added that against a free float demand by the IMF, the SBP had proposed to pursue a flexible exchange rate policy.

Source: The Express Tribune January 18, 2019 18:08 UTC