KARACHI, Aug 23 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative in Pakistan said on Wednesday that the reform process the government had agreed to required the country to keep all state-owned enterprises under the supervision of the Finance Ministry.
“Moving forward with the previously agreed 2021 classification reform process, and other governance and private sector reforms, is important to attract foreign investment on a lasting basis,” Esther Pérez Ruiz of the IMF said in a statement to Reuters. .
Pakistan has been looking at outsourcing operations of several of its state assets to outside companies. In March, it began outsourcing operations and ground assets at three major airports to be run under a public-private partnership, a move to generate foreign exchange reserves for its ailing economy.
The IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan in June on a $3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA), a long-awaited decision for the South Asian nation that had been on the brink of default. .
Pérez Ruiz said in the statement that it was “premature to consider what will follow the current SBA, which will run until early 2024.”
Ariba Shahid Reporting in Karachi Written by Charlotte Greenfield Edited by David Goodman and Alistair Bell
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