Islamabad: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday (August 29) approved USD 1.17 billion loan facility for Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), news sources reported.
The programme was further extended by the board to last through the end of June 2023. According to the approval, Pakistan will receive the 7th and 8th tranches of the EFF, as well as an increase in the total disbursement under the ‘rephasing and augmentation’, giving Pakistan access to the funds worth SDR 720 million (USD 934 million), bringing the total access under the EFF to approximately USD 6.5 billion. In a statement, IMF Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair Antoinette praised the government’s efforts to stabilise the country’s macroeconomic outlook and budgetary tightening to reduce inflation. According to the statement, the Pakistani government has experienced external challenges that have put pressure on economic growth.
It is worth noting that the government signed an EFF with the IMF in 2019 for USD 6 billion of foreign assistance. However, the government fell short of its budgetary projections for the seventh and eighth tranches. To ensure budgetary sustainability, the government had to renegotiate its agreement with the IMF. Pakistan has also obtained USD 4 billion from Gulf countries to help with development and to keep a surplus.
Nauman Ahmad is an imaginative Pisces whose love for literature and nature is unparalleled. When he's not reading or hiking, he's sleeping and eating, which gives him plenty of energy for his next adventure.
