KARACHI: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation that arrived in Pakistan this week has left for Turkiye amid surging tensions in the Middle East, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday, confirming that discussions with Islamabad will continue virtually in the days ahead. 

The IMF mission, led by Iva Petrova, had started talks with Pakistani officials on the third review of a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) multi-year program and for the second review of the $1.4 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) this week.

The IMF delegation, which arrived for preliminary discussions on the EFF and RSF programs, relocated following security directives as tensions in the Middle East surged following the ongoing conflict between Iran and the US and Israel. 

“The IMF team has moved to Istanbul after special instructions were issued to them due to the volatile security situation in the region,” a finance ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media, told Arab News. 

The Pakistani official said the IMF delegation came to Islamabad for a day and met Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb “for some of the key discussions.” The official confirmed the IMF team will continue the rest of the talks with Pakistani authorities virtually from Istanbul. 

“It would take another five to six days as they already have held discussions with the stakeholders in Karachi,” he said.

The IMF’s country representative in Pakistan, Mahir Binici, had also told Arab News on Monday that discussions related to the EFF and RSF reviews would be held virtually. 

The official said Pakistan is expected to receive a tranche of “over a billion dollars” if the review talks are held successfully. 

“They release their loans in equal tranches mostly,” he said. 

When asked whether the IMF mission’s response was encouraging during the review discussions, the official responded that “they never give any response.”

He said as per the usual process, both sides would sign a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) first in case of a successful review, following which the IMF’s Executive Board would take the final decision on whether the tranche should be released or not.

Both EFF and RSF are key programs crucial for stabilizing Pakistan’s fragile economy. The IMF team was in the country to assess fiscal performance, energy-sector reforms, and external financing needs before approving the next disbursement.

The ongoing IMF engagement is seen as vital for Pakistan as geopolitical tensions and rising global oil prices pose renewed risks for its economic recovery.

Pakistan entered into the IMF’s program to strengthen its public finances, foreign exchange reserves and restore macroeconomic stability after periods of economic volatility.