In early May a former Pakistani representative to the IMF, Ehtisham Ahmad, revealed that the Fund had described Pakistan's economic managers as "cheats and liars" who made false promises regarding plans to reform the tax system. The IMF responded that, to the contrary, it had a cordial and constructive relationship with Pakistan's economic policymakers.

Mr Ahmed asserted that the Pakistani authorities' lack of credibility may scupper the government's attempts to secure further funding from the IMF, particularly given that the government has still not implemented long-promised reforms that it agreed to enact as part of the emergency funding agreement finalised in November 2008. He also claimed that the IMF had initially refused Pakistan's request for the funds, and that the standby agreement had been concluded only as a result of last-minute intervention by the US.

The IMF had been due to visit Pakistan in the first week of May to hold the fifth review of the economy under its ongoing loan arrangement, but the visit was postponed following the killing of Mr bin Laden, owing to security concerns. Instead, negotiations between the government and the Fund commenced in Dubai on May 11th and are expected to continue for around a week.