ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has transferred $1.2 billion to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) — the first tranche of the $3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA), announced Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Thursday.
The IMF’s executive board, on Wednesday, approved a $3 billion SBA under a nine-month programme.
In a televised statement, Dar said that when the SBA was finalised, it was decided that $1.2 billion would be given upfront while the balance amount of $1.8 billion would be handed over after two reviews in November and February.
Expectedly, IMF board approves $3bn 9-mth SBA
“So in that regard, I want to share the information that the IMF has transferred the upfront payment of $1.2 billion to the SBP account,” he added.
Pakistan’s foreign reserves jumped by $4.2 billion during this week, after receiving $2 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia and $1 billion from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The minister said that there had been a $4.2 billion increase in the SBP’s reserves during the week. “So I am expecting that our forex reserves will close at $13-14 billion by Friday. The State Bank will give the exact numbers,” he said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif played a pivotal role in reaching the deal with the IMF, said Dar, adding that the process with the IMF had been ongoing for the past eight months.
He said that Pakistan went for a smaller SBA with the IMF instead of the ninth review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, as in the latter case, Pakistan may not have gotten the $1.5 billion. “To save that, we further added $500 million to the $2.5 billion of EFF and in the last week of June the SBA was agreed with the Fund”, he added. “This programme has been limited to nine months so that whichever government comes into power after the elections, can make its owns decisions”, Dar added.
He also lauded the economic team which he stated had extended full support during the complicated process. The country is again on the move towards development, said the finance minister who stressed that everyone would have to contribute for continuing the journey.
“I believe that Pakistan is moving on a positive trajectory and we need to consolidate these gains,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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