IMF Executive Board to meet April 29 on Pakistan’s SBA

KARACHI: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet on April 29 to discuss the approval of $1.1-billion funding for Pakistan, the lender said on Wednesday.

The funding is the last tranche of a $3-billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the IMF, which runs out this month.

Pakistan is also seeking a new long-term, larger IMF loan.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, has said Islamabad could secure a staff-level agreement on the new program by early July.

Islamabad says it is seeking a loan over at least three years to help macroeconomic stability and execute long-due and painful structural reforms, though Aurangzeb has declined to detail what size the country seeks.

Islamabad has yet to make a formal request, but the Fund and the government are already in discussions.

If secured, it would be the 24th IMF bailout for Pakistan.

The $350-billion economy faces a chronic balance of payment crisis, with nearly $24 billion to repay in debt and interest over the next fiscal year - three times more than its central bank’s foreign currency reserves.

Pakistan’s finance ministry expects the economy to grow by 2.6% in the current fiscal year ending June, while average inflation is projected to stand at 24%, down from 29.2% in fiscal year 2023/2024. Inflation soared to a record high of 38% last May.