IMF praises oil crisis handling, urges gas sector reforms

• Seeks faster work on targeted gas subsidies, Rs3.6tr circular debt • Acknowledges power sector’s improvement in recoveries, loss reduction • Govt, lender to discuss direct cash support for deserving power consumers next week ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appreciated Pakistan’s handling of the oil crisis without supply disruptions or an additional budgetary burden despite regional challenges during six months of the US-Iran conflict , but it asked the authorities to expedite groundwork for managing the rising gas sector circular debt and providing targeted subsidies to…