ISLAMABAD, Dec 14: Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin said on Sunday he was hopeful the IMF would approve a proposed support package for small brokers.

“The IMF did not stop us from supporting the brokers. They asked us for consultations on the issue before making a formal announcement,” the adviser told Dawn when asked whether the government had gone back on its promise to support brokers.

Mr Tarin said he was optimistic the support fund would be approved by the IMF soon, but hastened to add that the floor had to be lifted without any support.

Before seeking a bailout from the IMF, the government had announced a support fund of Rs20 billion and another ‘put option’ of Rs30 billion in a bid to cushion investors.

Mr Tarin was of the view that if the stock market fell by more than 20 to 25 per cent without the support of the floor it would still be better than what had happened in many countries of the world.

Meanwhile, the newly-appointed IMF Director for Middle East and Central Asia, Mr Masood Ahmad, is due here on Monday to attend two government-sponsored seminars to be held in Islamabad and Lahore.

During his stay in the country, he will meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The first seminar on the global economic crisis will be held in Islamabad under the auspices of the Planning Commission of Pakistan. The second seminar on taxation structure has been organised by the Federal Board of Revenue in Lahore.

The IMF would start reviewing Pakistan in late January or early February, a senior official in the finance ministry told this correspondent.