ISLAMABAD: Senior officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank on Friday assured Pakistan of “continued support” as the country reels from catastrophic floods that have killed over 1,700 since mid-June and dealt severe losses to its infrastructure.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is in Washington D.C. with key members of the federal cabinet. Dar is leading Pakistan’s delegation at the annual IMF and World Bank’s annual 2022 meetings.
Torrential rains and melting glaciers triggered raging floods in Pakistan since June 14 that have killed over 1,700 and destroyed roads, bridges and houses in the country. Pakistan estimates the losses to be at least $30 billion. Islamabad has requested debt relief from rich countries to help it cope with the crisis.
Dar met Antoinette Sayeh, deputy managing director of the IMF and World Bank President David Malpass in separate meetings on Friday, according to the finance ministry.
“DMD (deputy managing director) IMF appreciated the government’s policies and assured of IMF’s continued support to Pakistan,” the finance ministry said. “President Malpass assured that the Bank would continue to work with GoP (government of Pakistan) to help Pakistan overcome its socio-economic challenges due to the floods,” it added.
According to a report in Pakistani daily Dawn, the IMF said it would send a team to the country in November early next month to start the process for the next review of the current program.
“We accelerated some of our disbursements to help Pakistan deal with recent shocks, such as the increase in prices of foods and commodities,” IMF Director for Middle East and Central Asia, Jihad Azour, said at a media briefing.
“Hopefully, we will be fielding a mission in November, after the annual meetings, to Pakistan to start the process for the next review,” the report added.
According to Dawn, Azour urged Pakistan not to give “untargeted subsidies” to consumers as such interventions have always been counterproductive.
