By Aliyu DANLADI
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday urged Iran to implement policies to safeguard its macroeconomic stability in the face of reimposed U.S. sanctions that will cut Iranian economic growth by reducing oil exports.
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice also told a news conference that the Fund was urging Iran to strengthen its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing frameworks to comply with international standards by a deadline in February 2019.
“The reimposition of U.S. sanctions will reduce economic growth by restricting Iran’s oil exports and Iran should implement policies to safeguard macro-stability,” Rice said, particularly “the most vulnerable groups.”
Rice said the IMF was sending a mission to Islamabad on Nov. 7 to launch financing talks with Pakistan, which formally requested an IMF bailout program during the fund’s annual meetings in Indonesia in October.
Rice said the talks are aimed at reaching a staff-level agreement, which would be submitted to the IMF’s executive board for consideration.
He did not offer a timetable for reaching such a staff-level agreement with Pakistan.
