ISLAMABAD, May 04 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked
Pakistan to terminate additional Utility Stores Corporation employees by
June 30 as part of its right-sizing policy.
According to sources, 2,237 daily-wage workers have already been sacked
in the first phase and in the second phase, approximately 2,800 contract
employees from grades 1 to 13 will be dismissed. Employees in grade 14
and above will be transferred to a surplus pool by the same deadline,
sources revealed.
The government has also decided to close an additional 1,000 financially
weak Utility Stores by the end of the current fiscal year, reducing the
total number from 5,500 to 1,500.
Daily-wage workers at these stores will also be terminated. The
remaining stores are slated for privatization, as outlined in official
documents.
Last fiscal year, Utility Stores received a Rs38 billion subsidy, but
the Rs60 billion allocated for the current year has not been disbursed,
sources confirmed.
It is worth mentioning here that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF)
Executive Board meeting is scheduled for May 9, with Pakistan listed on
the official agenda.
During the meeting, the IMF board is expected to approve a disbursement
of $1.1 billion for Pakistan under the ongoing financial program.
According to IMF statement, first Review under the Extended Arrangement
under the Extended Fund Facility, the request for modification of
performance criteria, and the request for an arrangement under the
Resilience and Sustainability Facility are scheduled to take place on
May 9.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has also secured $1.3 billion in climate financing
from the International Monetary Fund.
This was stated by IMF Director of Communications Julie Kozack while
responding to a query during a press conference.
Last month, Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund reached a
staff-level agreement on the first review under Pakistan’s 37-month $7bn
Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and on a new 28-month $1.3bn arrangement
under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), the federal
government and the IMF confirmed