Just ahead of the coming review of the IMF programme, the Ministry of Planning has officially asked the prime minister to include it in the core team, along with the Finance Division, for holding parleys with the IMF. "We have officially communicated to the PM in writing to include the Ministry of Planning as part of the team, along with the Ministry of Finance, for holding negotiations with the IMF because broader discussions on the economy, including growth, inflation, poverty and others, are the domain of our ministry," Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said while launching the Monthly Development Outlook here at a news conference at P Block on Monday.

The IMF's review mission will hold parleys with Pakistani authorities from this week in Islamabad, with Pakistan's delegation led by the Minister for Finance. However, technical-level talks will be spearheaded by Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal. It is the first time in recent history that the Planning Ministry has communicated to the premier in writing to regain its lost role.

Earlier, the Planning Commission was considered the strongest part of the government for spearheading economic policymaking during the decades of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. However, under the IMF's influence, the hold of the Finance Division became prominent in the aftermath of the 1990s. The minister also hoped that, with Pakistani efforts, peace would be achieved in the Gulf region and the price surge would return to normal in the coming weeks and months, after which inflation would return to single digits.

Flanked by senior officials, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal also lamented those political forces that were moving towards holding long marches on the federal capital to sow the seeds of political instability in the country. When asked about any threat to the government in the context of the upcoming long marches, he said that India had hatched conspiracies by launching non-traditional tactics of warfare to foment political instability in the country.