PM Of Pakistan Discusses New Loan Program With IMF Chief

(CTN News) – Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, discussed the idea of a new loan programme with the IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Sunday, according to a statement from his office.

A meeting between Sharif and Georgieva was held in Riyadh on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

A $3 billion standby arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expires at the end of the month, so Islamabad is seeking a larger, longer-term Extended Fund Facility agreement with the fund.

According to Sharif’s office, the two sides discussed Pakistan entering into another IMF program so as to ensure that the gains made in the past year would be consolidated and the country’s economic growth trajectory would remain on a positive trajectory.

There is going to be a meeting of the executive board of the International Monetary Fund on Monday in order to discuss the approval of another tranche of the standby arrangement, equivalent to $1.1 billion, for Pakistan.

With the help of the agreement, Islamabad was able to avoid a sovereign default last summer and avert an economic disaster for the country as a result.

Earlier this month, the Pakistani Finance Minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, stated that Islamabad would be able to reach an agreement with the staff on the new program by the start of July.

According to Aurangzeb, Islamabad is seeking a loan over at least three years to help it achieve macroeconomic stability and implement long-overdue and painful structural reforms despite the fact that he has declined to provide details of what type of programme he is seeking.

Despite the fact that Islamabad has yet to make a formal request, the Fund and the government are already in contact with each other. Upon securing the bailout, Pakistan will become the 24th country to receive a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

During the next fiscal year, the $350 billion economy will have to repay nearly $24 billion in debt and interest, three times the currency reserves maintained by its central bank.

According to Pakistan’s economy ministry, the economy will grow by 2.6% in the fiscal year ending in June, while inflation will average 24%, down from 29.2% in the previous year.

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