IMF to release $900m to Pakistan if fuel subsidies are scrapped

Karachi — Pakistan and the IMF have worked out the outlines for the release of more than $900m in funds that would come through once Pakistan removes its fuel subsidies, a Pakistani source directly involved in talks in Qatar said, requesting anonymity.

The talks in Qatar’s capital, Doha, on the resumption of a funding programme concluded on Wednesday. An IMF official said in a statement that considerable progress had been made, but he emphasised the urgency of Pakistan removing fuel and energy subsidies to get back on track.

“When we raise fuel prices, the deal will be done. We have worked out the outlines of a deal,” the source told Reuters in a text message after the end of the talks in Doha.

The IMF representative in Pakistan did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Pakistan entered into a three-year, $6bn IMF deal in 2019, but about half of the funds are yet to be released.

A pending tranche of more than $900m is contingent on a successful IMF review. A successful review would also unlock other funding avenues for cash-strapped Pakistan, whose foreign reserves cover less than two months’ worth of imports.

It was not clear when the review would take place.

The fuel price caps were introduced by ousted prime minister Imran Khan as he faced pressure to tame rising inflation. The IMF on Wednesday said the move was a deviation from policies agreed to in the 2019 funding deal.

Pakistan’s new government, which took charge in April, has been reluctant to remove fuel price caps. The source, however, who has access to government strategy, said finance officials were confident they could convince Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to raise prices soon.

Pakistan’s consumer price index rose 13.4% in April from a year earlier.

A removal of fuel subsidies would likely have political consequences for the new coalition government, with elections expected within 16 months.

Reuters