Pakistan to receive $1.17 billion tranche, says IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Pakistan will receive a $1.7 billion tranche in the coming three to six weeks, after reaching the staff-level agreement earlier this week.

In a press briefing on Thursday, IMF's Communication Director Gerry Rice said. "It's an agreement on a combined seventh and eighth review of the programme... that will translate into about $1.17 million being disbursed to Pakistan. Pretty much, straight away."

He further said that this brought the total disbursements from the IMF to Pakistan under the ongoing program to about $4.2 billion.

The IMF and Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement on Wednesday on the combined seventh and eighth reviews for a $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) loan facility.

Pakistan hoped that this agreement would stabilise the country's economy and depreciate its currency. Meanwhile, IMF also hoped that it would bring down high inflation and end Pakistan's political instability.

The agreement "could also unlock more funding for Pakistan, which in recent weeks has neared the brink of a balance of payments crisis," Rice said.

The discussion was finalised by an IMF team led by Nathan Porter and the agreement is subject to approval by the IMF's Executive Board.

"About $1,177 million (SDR 894 million) will become available, bringing total disbursements under the program to about USD 4.2 billion," Porter said in the statement.

The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries' official reserves.

An extension of the EFF until the end of June 2023 and an augmentation of access by SDR 720 million bringing the total access to about $7 billion will be considered by the IMF board in order to support program implementation and meet the higher financing needs in FY23, as well as catalyse additional financing.

The implementation of the outlined policies will help create the conditions for sustainable and more inclusive growth.

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The newspaper noted that reviving the loan programme and getting the economy back on track "have been a political litmus test for Pakistan's new prime minister."

The report also highlighted the government's fear that the IMF-induced reforms could trigger "public backlash that could hurt PML-N's chance of success in the next general elections."

• Pakistan