ISLAMABAD: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet on April 29 to discuss the approval of 1.1 billion dollars in funding for Pakistan, the lender said on Wednesday.
The funding is the last tranche of a 3-billion-dollar Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF, which runs out this month. Islamabad is also seeking a new long-term, larger IMF loan.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that Islamabad could secure a staff-level deal on the new program by early July.
Pakistan is seeking a loan over at least three years to help macroeconomic stability and execute long-due and painful structural reforms, though the finance minister has not provided the details about the loan size the country seeks.
Pakistan in Discussions with IMF
Pakistan has yet to make a formal request, but the IMF and the government are already in discussions. If secured, it would be the 24th IMF bailout for the country.
Pakistan’s economy faces a chronic balance of payment crisis, with about $24 billion to repay in debt and interest over the next fiscal year – three times more than the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign currency reserves.
