The Pakistan government has said that talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a bailout package will continue over the weekend as the two parties are yet to reach an agreement, the media reported on Saturday.
Late Friday night, the Finance Ministry said only that”we have made good progress in our discussions with the visiting IMFmission. Consultations will continue over the weekend”, Dawn newsreported.
The talks were originally planned to conclude on Friday andthe IMF mission had confirmed return flights to Washington D.C. late in thenight. Those travel plans have presumably been modified.
An informed source said a steep monetary adjustment andfiscal realignments were the key sticking points holding back a final outcomeand the IMF had not changed its stance since October last year.
The IMF delegation had arrived in Islamabad on May 1. Thebailout package is likely to range between $7-$8 billion.