By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb hoped that the nation would hear good news from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after its Executive Board meeting on 25th Septem-ber.
The finance minister passed these said this while chairing a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet here in Islamabad.
At the outset, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb shared an update on the current economic situation and macroeconomic stability achieved across all sectors of the economy.
He said the currency is now in a stable position with foreign exchanges at a 26-month high at the back of “very resilient and strong remittances flows”. He said the IT exports also stabilised at about 300 million monthly figure which is a great news for the export sector.
The finance minister also lauded a steady growth in the RDAs with 165 million dollars inflows received last month. He called the reduction in inflation to a single digit as a big story, hoping that inflation would further come down when the September data is released. He noted that macroeconomic stability was not an end itself but a means to an end. He called it the basic hygiene and the building blocks that provide foundation to the whole edifice.
“We would move in the right direction on the basis of this approach, and ensure gradual stability in the micro sectors as well,” he added.
He described the situation with Current Account as very encouraging and noted the surplus of $75 mil-lion achieved in August. He hoped that with softer oil prices, a softer dollar and an aggressive rate cut which had already been reduced by 450bps, the current account situation would continue to be in a good position.
The minister also spoke about the rejection by the government of all bids for treasury bills on Wednesday, saying the move was aimed at conveying the message that the government is under no desperation to borrow, and if it were to borrow, it would borrow at its own terms.
Later, during the meeting, the ECC considered a summary from the Ministry of Industries and Produc-tion regarding the export of 40,000 metric tons of sugar to Tajikistan.
Earlier, rhe International Monetary Fund (IMF) included Pakistan on the agenda of its Executive Board meeting scheduled for September 25, 2024.
The Executive Board will consider the final approval under the US$7 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA).
The sources said that if the IMF Executive Board expresses satisfaction with Pakistan’s progress, it would pave the way for the release of installments. The finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb an-nounced that all matters with the IMF have been settled amicably.
