An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team will travel to Pakistan later this month to continue negotiations over a support package, the IMF says, amid efforts by the South Asian country to deflect an economic crisis.
"At the request of the authorities, an IMF mission will be going to Pakistan before the end of April to continue the discussions," the IMF said in a statement on April 15.
However, a Pakistani government source who did not want to be identified told the media that "both sides are still engaged" in intense negotiations, and the IMF mission was more likely to visit Pakistan in May.
The IMF demands full disclosure of all financial cooperation between Pakistan and China, which would include infrastructure development assistance, nuclear power plants, joint manufacturing of warplanes, and procurement of submarines.
The IMF also wants details of more than $6.5 billion of commercial loans Pakistan has received from China in the past 2 1/2 years.
Pakistani Finance Minister Asad Umar earlier this month visited Washington for talks with the international lender on a long-delayed bailout program, which would be Pakistan's 13th such rescue by the IMF since the late 1980s.
