LAHORE: Pakistan has “fulfilled all the conditions” of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of the $1.1 billion tranche, Finance and Revenue Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said, hoping the Fund will soon sign the staff-level agreement.
Both sides have been engaged in multiple talks since February to break impasse on the pending ninth review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of the bailout package at a time when the timeframe of the 10th review is in sight.
The global lender has placed multiple conditions that include domestic revenue generation from taxation and tariffs, waiving subsidies and external financing from friendly countries.
Dar told a news channel that both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had informed the IMF about their commitments to provide $3 billion to Pakistan. Riyadh will provide $2 billion while Abu Dhabi has promised $1 billion to Pakistan, Dar said, adding that the Washington-based lender has also been informed in this regard.
The finance minister said all the conditions for the staff-level agreement between Pakistan and IMF have been fulfilled, adding Pakistan was hopeful that Fund would soon sign the SLA and get it approved by its Executive Board.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen to cover barely a month of imports after the IMF funding stalled in November, hit by snags over fiscal policy adjustments after officials of the lender visited Islamabad in February for talks.
