Pakistan receives second tranche of $1.02bn from IMF, confirms SBP

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday said that it has received the second tranche of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 760 million, equivalent to $1.02 billion, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“SBP has received the second tranche of SDR 760 million (US$ 1,023 million) from the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme,” the central bank said.

The amount will be reflected in SBP’s foreign exchange reserves for the week ending on 16th May 2025, it added.

The development comes days after IMF Executive Board completed the first review under the EFF arrangement, allowing the Pakistani authorities to draw the equivalent of about $1 billion.

The Executive Board on Friday also approved the authorities’ request for an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), which will support Pakistan’s efforts in building economic resilience to climate vulnerabilities and natural disasters, with access to around $1.4 billion.

The Fund issued a statement which noted the Executive Board of the IMF completed the first review of Pakistan’s economic reform program supported by the EFF Arrangement.

This decision allows for an immediate disbursement of around $1 billion (SDR 760 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about $2.1 billion (SDR 1.52 billion). In addition, the IMF Executive Board approved the authorities’ request for an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), with access of about US$1.4 billion (SDR 1 billion).

The Pakistani authorities and the IMF team reached staff-level agreement on the EFF in the amount equivalent to SDR 5,320 million (or about USD 7 billion) on July 12, 2024, which was later approved by the IMF’s Executive Board in the last week of September.

Analysts believe the IMF programme is crucial as it gives the government a roadmap for economic reforms while providing a cushion to the country’s foreign exchange reserves.