IMF board to approve bailout package for Pakistan on July 03

ISLAMABAD: Executive Board of International Monetary Funds (IMF) in its meeting on July 03 will give final approval of the bailout package for Pakistan, ARY News reported on Thursday.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Hafeez Shaikh will proceed to Washington along with his financial team to sign agreement with the IMF.

The IMF board will approve $ six billion bailout for Pakistan in three years under the extended fund facility.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government and the IMF have already in principle signed staff agreement the Executive Board of the IMF will give its final nod to the agreement under which Pakistan will receive six billion dollars loan package from the lender.

The government has already fulfilled all IMF’s conditions before signing of agreement. The government in its budget proposals for the next financial year has added Rs. 357 billion loan from the IMF.

An IMF team will visit Islamabad every three months to review economic indicators of the country.

The government has fulfilled all IMF conditions, economists said.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has given the approval to increase the natural gas prices, one of the conditions of the IMF for its bailout package.

The ECC approved to hike the natural gas tariff for domestic consumers by 190 pct and on average 31pc for all other categories.

Moreover, the rupee goes above Rs160 against the US dollar in the market on Wednesday as Pakistan on the verge to enter the IMF loan programme.

The rupee weakened 3.3%, or Rs5.18, in a single day and closed at an all-time low of Rs162.16 to the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday compared to Tuesday’s close of Rs156.98, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported.