ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are working tirelessly to reach agreement on earlier steps before moving toward a staff-level agreement, but one area of disagreement is the bolstering of the institutional anti-corruption framework.
Because the government was unable to meet the structural benchmark (SB) that had been agreed upon by the PTI-led regime at the conclusion of the sixth review, the IMF wants to add it to the list of prior measures. The IMF is currently vying to transform it into a new previous action in order to revive the program. Pakistan has requested that the IMF remove the strengthening of anti-corruption institutions from the list of preceding activities, claiming that the Fund’s mandate and remit do not apply to it. Pakistani and IMF top brass are debating a list of prerequisites for reaching a staff-level agreement
