IMF to provide $510 million aid tranche to Pakistan
IMF says Pakistan's gross domestic product growth is projected at 4.5 per cent
PHOTO: REUTERS
The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that it had reviewed Pakistan's economic performance and would make available a further $510 million to the country as part of a three-year, $6.7 billion financial assistance programme.
The money will be provided when the review is approved by the IMF´s management and executive board, the Fund said in a statement, describing its discussions with Pakistan as "productive" and adding that performance criteria in the programme had been met.
IMF says Pakistan ready to go it alone when programme ends
Pakistan's gross domestic product growth is projected at 4.5 per cent in the 2015/16 fiscal year and 4.7 percent in the following year, the IMF said.
Last month, a senior fund official had claimed that Pakistan would be ready to go it alone when its $6.7 billion three-year IMF programme ends in September. Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, had told Reuters substantial progress had been made in repairing Pakistan’s economy and that Islamabad was right to be saying is does not need another package.
A total of $1.1 billion of the $6.7 billion package is due to be disbursed before the programme ends in September. This year has seen some behind-the-scenes grumbling from IMF officials when the government shelved plans to privatise its main power companies.
Last month it also switched away from privatising Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) but with growth expected to be 4.5 percent this year, neither have caused enough alarm for a formal IMF rebuke for Islamabad.
IMF approves $497m loan for Pakistan after bailout review
“The next phase (once the programme ends) is to continue with the reforms that they have on structural measures that will sustainably raise their growth rate and particularly raise their exports,” said Ahmed. “The current level of exports they have, which is about $25 billion, for an economy of over $280 billion it needs to be double that.”
The money will be provided when the review is approved by the IMF´s management and executive board, the Fund said in a statement, describing its discussions with Pakistan as "productive" and adding that performance criteria in the programme had been met.
IMF says Pakistan ready to go it alone when programme ends
Pakistan's gross domestic product growth is projected at 4.5 per cent in the 2015/16 fiscal year and 4.7 percent in the following year, the IMF said.
Last month, a senior fund official had claimed that Pakistan would be ready to go it alone when its $6.7 billion three-year IMF programme ends in September. Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, had told Reuters substantial progress had been made in repairing Pakistan’s economy and that Islamabad was right to be saying is does not need another package.
A total of $1.1 billion of the $6.7 billion package is due to be disbursed before the programme ends in September. This year has seen some behind-the-scenes grumbling from IMF officials when the government shelved plans to privatise its main power companies.
Last month it also switched away from privatising Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) but with growth expected to be 4.5 percent this year, neither have caused enough alarm for a formal IMF rebuke for Islamabad.
IMF approves $497m loan for Pakistan after bailout review
“The next phase (once the programme ends) is to continue with the reforms that they have on structural measures that will sustainably raise their growth rate and particularly raise their exports,” said Ahmed. “The current level of exports they have, which is about $25 billion, for an economy of over $280 billion it needs to be double that.”