Karachi: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday announced its receipt of the second tranche worth USD 452.4 million of the USD 6 billion loan package pledged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The central bank further stated that the country’s foreign exchange reserves shored up to USD 18 billion following the completion of the said transaction.
The SBP received the second tranche of loan on December 23, under the EFF (extended fund facility) programme announced by the international agency. This tranche will be included in the SBP weekly reserves data as of December 27, 2019, and will be released on January 2, 2020 – said the central bank. Following the release of the second tranche, the total IMF disbursement so far stands at USD1.44 billion. The first instalment of USD 1 billion was issued in July.
With the inclusion of this tranche, the reserves held by the SBP are expected to reach USD 11.35 billion. As per a statement recently issued by the IMF, the national economy was headed on a path towards stabilisation. ‘Decisive policy implementation by the Pakistani authorities is helping to preserve economic stability aiming to put the economy on the path of sustainable growth,’ according to the announcement.
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