‘Change of IMF head will not affect negotiations’

Pakistan is expected to hold talks for loan tranche in mid-July.

ISLAMABAD:

Change of International Monetary Fund (IMF) head will not affect the ongoing negotiations for financial assistance under ‘standby arrangement programme to Pakistan’, said a top official of the finance ministry.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde made history on Tuesday by becoming the first female managing director of the IMF following the ouster of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on allegations of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York

Pakistan is expected to be hold negotiations with the IMF mission for the next loan tranche in the second week of July, said finance ministry spokesperson Rana Asad Amin in his daily briefing.

IMF demanded the government to reduce borrowing from the State Bank of Pakistan to zero by the quarter-end, which is on track, said Amin.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2011.