IMF okays $502m loan tranche for Pakistan

Dubai - The IMF mission, led by Harald Finger, will submit the review to its management and executive board for final approval to clear $502 million tranche in September.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday successfully concluded the eighth review of Pakistan's economy under its $6.64 billion Extended Fund Facility programme.
The IMF mission, led by Harald Finger, will submit the review to its management and executive board for final approval to clear $502 million tranche in September.
The IMF mission held discussion in Dubai with Pakistan team led by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The team also included State Bank of Pakistan governor Ashraf Wathra, Federal Board of Revenue chairman Tariq Bajwa and other senior officials.
During the discussion, the finance minister briefed the IMF team about the current state of Pakistan's economy and said the country has achieved most of the targets set by the IMF for fiscal year 2014-15. He also informed the IMF team about the government's resolve to meet revenue shortage, fiscal deficit and settlement plan of temporarily displaced persons.
"We are broadly on track to meet most of the IMF's targets as the government is committed to implement structural reforms in areas of taxation, energy, monetary and financial sectors and public sector enterprises," Dar told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of a joint Press conference.
The IMF executive board approved the three-year EFF on September 4, 2013 for Pakistan under which $4.5 billion has so far been disbursed. The country last received a tranche of $502 million in March.
"We welcome the authorities' commitment and progress in implementing their economic programme to improve economic resilience, promote economic growth and private sector job creation in Pakistan," Finger said.
He said Pakistan's economy continues to improve and its real GDP growth is expected to increase to 4.5 per cent this fiscal year.
"The authorities have continued to make good progress in implementing their economic programme, although some targets were missed. All end-June 2015 programme targets related to monetary policy were met, in some cases with a significant margin. However, the end-June 2015 performance criteria on the budget deficit and government borrowing from the SBP were missed with a small margin," Finger said.
- muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com

• Pakistan