ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar has said that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have intimated to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on financing to Pakistan.
The minister said Saudi Arabia had conveyed to the IMF $2 billion financing to Pakistan while the UAE had confirmed support of $1 billion. This was the Government of Pakistan had met all the conditionalities of the IMF for the revival of the loan agreement, he added.
The Finance Minister has said that all preconditions for an Staff Level Agreement (SLA) between Pakistan and the IMF have now been implemented.
IMF official has expressed confidence SLA will be signed soon, says Pakistan’s Finance Division
The Finance Minister has expressed the hope that the International Monetary Fund will finalize the staff-level agreement with Pakistan soon and present it to the IMF executive board for approval.
Last week, the Pakistan government shared a financing plan for another Rs3 billion with the IMF, as reportedly, there is a possibility of receiving funds from commercial banks, including World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Bank.
Pakistan’s finance minister had earlier held a virtual meeting with Martin Raiser, South Asia Vice President of the World Bank.
The meeting was part of the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings 2023 held in Washington, said a Finance Ministry news release.
The minister informed the WB vice president about the completion of World Bank-supported reforms, especially those supported under the Resilient Institutions Strengthening Programme-II (RISE), under which major reforms like harmonization of GST had been completed.
He thanked the World Bank team for supporting Pakistan on flood rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Speaking on the occasion, Martin Raiser appreciated Pakistan’s efforts on ensuring expeditious processing of all flood related projects.
He thanked the Pakistani side on completing reforms under the RISE programme which would contribute to ensure macroeconomic stability in the country.