2nd round of talks held between IMF, Pak

The technical team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Pakistan government held their second round of talks in Islamabad on Thursday.

During the deliberations, the IMF delegation was briefed by the power division officials pertaining to the rise in electricity prices.

The team, which arrived on November 7 in Islamabad, will hold talks with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for a period of two weeks on a possible bailout package requested by the latter, in a bid to stem the country out from the economic and financial woes, Geo News reported.

Information on different sectors of Pakistan's economy was also shared with the IMF delegation during the meeting, as per sources. Talks between the two sides are scheduled to resume on November 12.

Despite securing a USD 6 billion bailout package from Saudi Arabia, the Imran Khan-led government had previously requested the IMF for an additional USD 6-7 billion to stave off the economic crisis in the country.

Last month, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde had confirmed that Pakistan formally approached the global lender seeking financial assistance to address its economic challenges. Her comments came after she met Pakistan's Finance Minister Asad Umar, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Tariq Bajwa and members of their economic team in Indonesia.

Lagarde had added that an IMF team would visit Islamabad soon to initiate discussions for a possible economic programme.

Pakistan's economy has been in a limbo for a long time. It was already speculated that the government would seek a loan package from the IMF following the general elections which were held on July 25.

Earlier in June, Pakistan's the then caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar had revealed that the government would be seeking financial help from the IMF in order to balance the deficit gap of USD 25 billion and infuse some life into the debt-ridden economy.