ISLAMABAD: The auth­o­rities are hopeful for the finalisation of a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s upcoming visit to the United States, subject to the consensus on the external account and verified flood-related losses, as well as their fiscal adjustment across central and provincial accounts.

Official sources confirmed that the IMF had shared the draft Memor­andum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) with the authorities before a visiting mission left Pakistan after two weeks of engagements.

“We were at the cusp of finalising the SLA, but two crucial tables that form part of the MEFP required further adjustments,” an official said, hoping that the latest data on foreign remittances had strengthened Pakist­an’s stance about the external account.

He said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) would hold its cautious monetary........

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