By Ariba Shahid
KARACHI,&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;(Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains in touch with&nbsp;Pakistan's authorities in order to pave the way for a&nbsp;board&nbsp;meeting&nbsp;before&nbsp;a financing&nbsp;program&nbsp;expires&nbsp;at the end of June, the&nbsp;IMF&nbsp;mission chief for&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;said.
Ordinarily, a&nbsp;board&nbsp;meeting&nbsp;on a review of the&nbsp;program&nbsp;would require a prior staff-level agreement, which in&nbsp;Pakistan's case would unlock $1.1 billion in financing for the cash-strapped South Asian nation as part of a $6.5 billion&nbsp;IMF&nbsp;package.
The staff-level agreement has been delayed since November, with more than 100 days gone since the last staff-level mission to&nbsp;Pakistan, the longest such delay since at least 2008.
"This engagement will focus on the restoration of foreign exchange proper market functioning, the passage of a FY24 budget consistent with&nbsp;program&nbsp;goals, and adequate financing,"&nbsp;IMF&nbsp;mission chief Nathan Porter said.
On Sunday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;will share its budget details with the fund. He added that he would like the&nbsp;IMF&nbsp;to clear its 9th review&nbsp;before&nbsp;the budget, which is due to be presented in early June, as all the conditions for that had already been met.
"They have asked for some more things again, we are ready to give that too, they say that give us budget details, we will give it to them," Dar said in an interview with Geo TV.
He said it would not work for&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;if the&nbsp;IMF&nbsp;combined the 9th and 10th review of the bailout, adding, "We will not do it, (we) see this is (as) unfair."
Porter said that broadly speaking, "overcoming the present economic and financial challenges would require sustained policy efforts and reforms for&nbsp;Pakistan&nbsp;to regain strong and inclusive private-led growth."
While the&nbsp;IMF&nbsp;does not comment on domestic politics, Porter said it hopes "a peaceful way forward is found in line with the Constitution and the rule of law," referring to&nbsp;Pakistan's political instability.
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(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Grant McCool)

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IMF hoping for board meeting on Pakistan before current program expires