Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) delegation, which cut short its visit and left Islamabad on Monday, citing security concerns, was presently in Istanbul and that he was in contact with its members, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
He said that online negotiations with the IMF would continue for the next eight to 10 days.
The ongoing talks between an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission and authorities in Islamabad were converted to virtual mode on Monday due to the regional situation following the attack on Iran by the US and Israel.
The IMF mission, led by Iva Petrova, immediately relocated to Istanbul following an advisory issued by the lending agency’s headquarters, disrupting a series of sectoral meetings planned for the day.
The remaining schedule of meetings, however, will remain intact and will progress through video link between Islamabad and Istanbul.
“An IMF mission led by Iva Petrova has started discussions with the authorities in Karachi and Islamabad on the third review of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement and the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF),” the Fund said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, the two sides had a kick-off meeting presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
The two sides broadly touched upon the emerging regional security situation but were equally uncertain about how the crisis would play out and for how long.
The two sides said they would closely monitor the evolving situation and discuss contingency measures as the engagements progressed.
The Fund’s mission began discussions with the State Bank of Pakistan and the business community in Karachi on February 25.