IMF board to meet on Jan 11 for Pakistan loan program approval

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board meeting for Pakistan will be held on Thursday in which the board is scheduled to consider the first review of Pakistan’s $ 3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA), ARY News reported.

Finance Ministry officials said that Pakistan has achieved all IMF targets and hopefully will be able to get the required results. The officials said that Pakistan strictly implemented the economic reforms.

A first review under the $3 billion short-term loan program will be presented to the board while the IMF board will review the approval of the second tranche for Pakistan.

With the approval of the IMF board, Pakistan will get an installment of about 700 million US dollars.

It is pertinent to mention here that on 16^th November last year, Pakistan and IMF reached a staff-level agreement on the first review under Pakistan’s SBA.

The agreement supports the authorities’ commitment to advance the planned fiscal consolidation, accelerate cost-reducing reforms in the energy sector, complete the return to a market-determined exchange rate, and pursue state-owned enterprise and governance reforms to attract investment and support job creation, while continuing to strengthen social assistance.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan is operating under a caretaker government after an IMF loan programme, approved in July 2023, helped avert a sovereign debt default.