The International Monetary Fund (IMF) appears satisfied with the Pakistan’s upfront measures.
ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) appears satisfied with the Pakistan’s upfront measures.
The government has implemented measures to meet the conditions of the IMF for the resumption of bailout package.
However, IMF still did not mention the signing of a staff-level agreement during this week’s virtual talks. During Monday’s talks Pakistan sought the agreement as early as possible after completion of all requirements.
On Tuesday, both sides will again resume virtual talks and they are expected to make breakthrough about the signing of the agreement.
On Monday, the IMF demanded guarantee from Pakistan about the external financing to be received during the ongoing fiscal year.
Meanwhile, Pakistan informed the IMF that China will rollover its $2 billion SAFE deposits in Pakistan.
Pakistan shared this information with the IMF team during virtual talks on Monday.
“Pakistan requested China for granting rollover of $2 billion SAFE deposits, which is going to mature by end of this month,” an official said.
Govt-IMF Virtual Talks
Meanwhile, during Monday’s virtual talks, Pakistani economic team shared the external financing plan. By end-June, the foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan will surge to $10 billion.
Also, Saudi Arabia, UAE, China, and some other countries have announced financial support for Pakistan. Finance Minister Dar said that the IMF has given a green signal on Monday for signing the agreement.
Earlier, Pakistan received a $500 million loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on Friday, a few hours after Dar talked about approval of Chinese loan.
The ICBC approved a $1.3 billion loan for Pakistan that will be hand over to Pakistan in March 2023 which will strengthen foreign exchange reserves.
