Pakistan 'receives' second IMF loan tranche

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received the second tranche under the ongoing loan programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ARY News reported on Wednesday, citing sources in the Ministry of Finance.

According to the sources, the IMF has transferred $1 billion to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) as part of the current agreement.

The inflow will be reflected in the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves on May 16.

The disbursement follows the IMF Executive Board’s approval of the loan tranche on May 9, marking a critical step in Pakistan’s efforts to stabilize its economy and reinforce fiscal and external buffers.

“The IMF Executive Board completed the first review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement, allowing the authorities to draw the equivalent of about $1 billion,” the IMF said in a statement.

Last month, Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund reached a staff-level agreement on the first review under Pakistan’s 37-month $7bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and on a new 28-month $1.3bn arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), the federal government and the IMF confirmed.

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The IMF Executive Board also granted the authorities’ proposal for a Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement, which will provide Pakistan with around $1.4 billion to help strengthen its economic resilience to natural catastrophes and climate riskS.

“The Inational Monetary Fund team has reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the Pakistani authorities on the first review of the 37-month Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), and on a new 28-month arrangement under the IMF’s RSF with total access over the 28 months of around $1.3 billion (SDR 1 billion). The staff-level agreement is subject to approval of the IMF’s Executive Board. Upon approval, Pakistan will have access to about US$1.0 billion (SDR 760 million) under the EFF, bringing total disbursements under the program to about US$2.0 billion,” the IMF said in a statement.