The federal government and International Monetary Fund (IMF) will commence policy-level talks today on negotiating a new and likely $6-8 billion bailout program spread over at least three years, Finance Ministry sources told ProPakistani.

Sources said policy-level talks between the two sides will continue until May 23. They said the volume of the new loan program will be a key topic of discussion during this week’s negotiations. The terms and conditions for the new bailout will also be finalized.

Further consultations will take place regarding new budget targets. Sources said discussions will focus on setting tax, non-tax revenue, and macroeconomic targets in the upcoming fiscal year budget.

For now, the IMF has not hinted at a staff-level agreement by the end of these negotiations.

During last week’s technical level talks, IMF directed Pakistan to increase tax across a variety of categories.

Source: Pro Pakistani