Pakistan receives $1.16 bn from IMF

Islamabad: Pakistan on Wednesday received $1.16 billion (equivalent of SDR 894 million) after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board completed the combined seventh and Eight review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for the country.

The State Bank of Pakistan stated on its official Twitter handle that the amount would help improve its foreign exchange reserves and also facilitate realization of other planned inflows from multilateral and bilateral sources.

Earlier this week, the IMF Board had approved the much-needed revival of EFF for Pakistan.

The EFF was approved by the Executive Board on July 3, 2019 for SDR 4,268 million (about $6 billion at the time of approval, or 210 percent of quota).

In order to support programme implementation and meet the higher financing needs in FY23, as well as catalyze additional financing, the IMF Board approved an extension of the EFF until end-June 2023, rephasing and augmentation of access by SDR 720 million that would bring the total access under the EFF to about $6.5 billion.

The programme seeks to address domestic and external imbalances, and ensure fiscal discipline and debt sustainability while protecting social spending, safeguarding monetary and financial stability, and maintaining a market-determined exchange rate and rebuilding external buffers.