Govt shares with IMF plan to secure $3b

Informs lender about its plan to secure a $450 million worth support loan from RISE-II budget

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led coalition government has shared with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) its plan to secure an additional $3 billion to bridge the financing gap as it expedites efforts to convince the lender to release the next loan tranche.

The Washington-based lender seeks “necessary” financing assurances at the earliest to conclude talks with the country on its stalled bailout, IMF mission chief for Pakistan Nathan Porter said last week.

The IMF had asked Pakistan to arrange $6 billion in external financing. The $6 billion financing gap had been worked out on the assumption that the current account deficit would remain around $7 billion in the current fiscal year.

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The fund welcomed “the recent announcement of important financial support to Pakistan from key bilateral partners”, indirectly confirming the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia's commitments. But these commitments are short of Pakistan's requirements.

According to reports, Islamabad has informed the lender about its plan to secure a $450 million worth second Resilient Institutions for Sustainable Economy (RISE-II) budget support loan.

The government shared with the IMF officials plans to get $1 billion from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and other commercial banks to materialize pledges secured at a Geneva moot.