At the end of the International Mo netary Fund (IMF) mission (24 September to 8 October 2025) a press release was issued noting “significant progress” and the pledge to “continue discussions with a view to settling any outstanding issues” on the second review of the 37-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of the 28-month arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Fund (RSF).

The staff level agreement (SLA) which would have triggered the 1.2 billion-dollar disbursement under the two programmes was left pending. This generated speculation both within and outside the country that the government would have to meet some challenging prior conditions before the SLA was announced. One week later, on 14 October, the IMF announced an SLA.

With no major policy (fiscal or monetary) changes announced between 8 and 14 October, it is critical to ascertain what was noted in 8 October press release but not in the 14 October press release and what was added on to the 14 October press release.

The only deletion from the October 14 press release, which was included in the 8 October press release, was the word “transparency” though improvement in governance was included in both. Some analysts argue that this may be indicative of the Fund’s desire to extend its support to the flood victims by prioritizing the first disbursement of 200 million dollars under RSF in the aftermath of the massive 2025 floods – a rationale that implies that the third review of the EFF may present more of a challenge for the authorities. Others are baffled, as the Fund could have easily delinked the SLA on the EFF and the RSF.

Be that as it may, there is a........

© Business Recorder