Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that macroeconomic stability in the country needed to be advanced further, which he said would not be possible without another bailout programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A day ago, while announ­c­ing the staff-level agreement (SLA) on the successful completion of an existing short-term facility, the IMF had confirmed that Pakistan was seeking a 24th medium-term bailout package for a permanent push towards longstanding structural reforms.

In its end-of-mission statement, the IMF had said that subject to the approval of its executive board, the staff-level agreement would enable Pakistan to access about $1.1 billion — 828 million special drawing rights (SDR) — by late April.

While addressing a meeting of the Special Investment and Faci­litation Council’s (SIFC) Apex committee today, PM Shehbaz congratulated the finance ministry for closing the SLA with the IMF, and expressed hope that the $1.1bn tranche would arrive next month.

“[However], is this our ultimate achievement? The answer is a big no. We have to bring economic stability at the macro-level and we have to progress it for which it is decided that we cannot survive without........

© Dawn Business