ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to start the process pertaining to the disbursement of seventh and eighth tranches ($1.17 billion) of loan for Pakistan later this week.
The IMF officials summer vacations are ending on Aug 12 and the IMF Executive Board can hold its meeting before 20th of this month in case recommendations are sent to it by Aug 6, sources said.
Pakistan and the IMF signed the $6bn bailout accord — Extended Fund Facility (EFF) — in 2019, however, the release of a $1.7 billion (seventh and eighth) tranche has been delayed as the IMF the PTI government breached the agreement a couple of months ahead of no-trust move.
On July 13, the IMF and Pakistan signed a staff-level agreement on the combined seventh and eighth reviews for the EFF, which would be approved by the board for release in August 2022.
Pakistan tried to get the approval from the IMF board before the summer vacations (Aug 1 to 12) and sent several officials to Washington to persuade the Fund to do so. Meanwhile, a few days ago Army Chief Qamar Bajwa telephoned US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman to seek Washington’s support for the approval of the IMF loan on an urgent basis. But the Pakistani officials were told that the IMF officials will be on summer recess from 1-12 August and the disbursement of loan was not possible during holidays.
The sources said the IMF had asked Pakistan to get assurances from Saudi Arabia and the UAE that they would give an expected $4 billion loan to the country after the IMF releases its tranche.
