Islamabad: Pakistan is all set to receive the second tranche of the USD 450 million loan agreement finalised with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the latter’s Extended Fund Facility, a new source reported. As per officials, this instalment was approved following the first review of the country’s financial performance on Friday.
According to the international agency, Pakistan successfully met the end-September performance criteria and progress was being made to meet structural benchmarks. The IMF said it was satisfied with the progress being made by Pakistan and recognised that the government’s policies, which were in-line with IMF’s instructions, were starting to bring about positive results. After the review, it was found that fiscal and external deficits were narrowing while inflation was expected to decline.
Previously, the Pakistani and IMF authorities had reached a staff-level agreement on reforms and policies required to complete the first review. This agreement is expected be approved by the IMF management after which the second instalment will be released to the Pakistani government.
This loan will be a part of the three-year USD 6 billion loan package approved by the IMF for Pakistan in order to help the country stave off a balance of payment crisis and to handle the increasing debt in exchange for tough austerity measures.
