Govt working on 174 IMF-sought tweaks, NA panel told

According to Dawn, the government told a National Assembly finance panel that the IMF wants about 174 changes to various laws. They span financial sector governance, state-owned firms, overseas remittances, climate matters and local currency integration. The two programmes behind the request are worth $8.4 billion, and Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal said the changes will be tabled in parliament.

Formal talks with a visiting IMF team begin Monday, covering a fourth assessment of the Extended Fund Facility and a third under the Resilience Support Facility. The previous day, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva praised Pakistan's performance and the government's economic stabilisation efforts after meeting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Mr Bosal also said changes to the Sovereign Wealth Fund law are on the agenda, but parliament will decide on approval.

The Sovereign Wealth Fund includes five large blue-chip firms, among them OGDCL and Pakistan State Oil, which the IMF wants brought up to the standards of other state-owned enterprises. Dawn noted the group was meant to draw money from state bodies in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, though progress has been slow. Remittance subsidies worth more than Rs120bn have been withdrawn, while a draft sugar policy has been agreed by three provinces, with one raising reservations.