antonio guterres will look to gather international support for the country in the aftermath of devastating floods last yearthe imf delegation is expected to meet with finance minister ishaq dar on the sidelines of the geneva conference to discuss outstanding issues and the path forward a spokesperson of the imf told a news agencya plan laying out a timeline and the financing of the rebuilding effort has been a sticking point in talks to clear the ninth review that will release 11 billion in imf funds and unlock other international funding tooimf unimpressed by pakistans track recordimf has refused to issue the new instalment of the already agreed loan since pakistan was not living up to the promises it made when the stalled loan of 6 billion was restored last yearit had sought assurances from pakistan on increasing energy prices imposing more taxes and ending artificial control over the exchange rate for further disbursalprime minister sharif during the meeting with the imf chief sought relaxation in the demand to increase electricity prices to compensate for the deviation of around rs 500 billion from the annual circular debt management planthese remain the major stumbling blocks in reaching an initial understanding of a stafflevel visit by the imf to pakistandec inflation at 245 food burning hole in pocketspakistans inflation rate reached 245 in december due to a massive spike in prices of food productsthe higher inflation rate was recorded in rural areas where it spiralled to 288 while it remained unchanged at 216 in the urban areas according to the pakistan bureau of statisticsprices of perishable food items soared by 56 which still showed a significant demand and supply gapthe prices of onions increased by 415 in cities and 464 in villages compared to a year ago followed by a 64 increase in rates of tea0426pakistan75 on the verge of economic collapsewheat an essential staple food of an overwhelming majority of pakistanis is now getting out of reach for many pakistanis its prices increased over 57 while the wheat flour prices also increased by 41 according to the pbsthe inflation rate bounced back at a time when the government was now coming under increased pressure to end its indecisiveness and move swiftly to revive the imf programme aimed at avoiding the sovereign defaultforex reserves at eightyear low imports threatenedpakistans central bank forex reserves have plunged to an eightyear low of 56 billion posing a serious challenge for the country in financing importscoupled with another 58 billion held by commercial banks the nation has 114 billion in reserves enough to pay for just three weeks of imports traders and economists saythe latest data from the central bank released overnight for the week ending december 30 show the country has half the foreign exchange reserves it held a year ago and the lowest since april 2014servicing foreign debt and paying for crucial commodities such as medicine food and energy are among the chief concernsamid a crisislike situation pakistan will