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Pakistan’s prime minister said on Tuesday, after a phone conversation with the World Bank chief, that Pakistan hopes a bailout decision will come from the International Monetary Fund within a day or two.
Islamabad was waiting to seal a deal after making the policy and fiscal tightening decisions required by the International Monetary Fund to disburse $1.1 billion under the lender’s ninth review of the fund’s $6.5 billion expanded facility agreed in 2019.
“The prime minister hopes that consensus on IMF program points will lead to a decision within a day or two,” the office of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday evening reiterated his predictions that the review “will take place” in an interview with local station Geo.
He added that the government is trying to obtain more than $1.1 billion owed under the ninth review from the International Monetary Fund.
The statement from the prime minister’s office added that Sharif had spoken to International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about bailout funds in the country, which have been stalled since November. The two also met in Paris on June 22.
With the bailout program expiring on June 30, Pakistan has also revised its budget for FY24 and raised policy rates to 22% in a desperate attempt to seal the deal, a key to unlocking another external financing for the cash-strapped nation.
Dar said the International Monetary Fund had called for raising the key interest rate to 22%.
Funds of the International Monetary Fund are subject to approval by its board of directors by promising a respite to Pakistan, which is grappling with its worst economic collapse, with a severe balance of payments crisis and declining foreign exchange reserves.
Islamabad was waiting to seal a deal after making the policy and fiscal tightening decisions required by the International Monetary Fund to disburse $1.1 billion under the lender’s ninth review of the fund’s $6.5 billion expanded facility agreed in 2019.
“The prime minister hopes that consensus on IMF program points will lead to a decision within a day or two,” the office of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday evening reiterated his predictions that the review “will take place” in an interview with local station Geo.
He added that the government is trying to obtain more than $1.1 billion owed under the ninth review from the International Monetary Fund.
The statement from the prime minister’s office added that Sharif had spoken to International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about bailout funds in the country, which have been stalled since November. The two also met in Paris on June 22.
With the bailout program expiring on June 30, Pakistan has also revised its budget for FY24 and raised policy rates to 22% in a desperate attempt to seal the deal, a key to unlocking another external financing for the cash-strapped nation.
Dar said the International Monetary Fund had called for raising the key interest rate to 22%.
Funds of the International Monetary Fund are subject to approval by its board of directors by promising a respite to Pakistan, which is grappling with its worst economic collapse, with a severe balance of payments crisis and declining foreign exchange reserves.
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