IMF board meeting on Apr 29 to approve $1.1 bn for Pakistan

Washington DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet on April 29 to approve the final review of the $3 billion Standby Arrangement (SBA) for Pakistan.

According to a media report quoting diplomatic sources, the review meeting will be held on April 29 at 10:00am as per the IMF event calendar.

On April 20, the IMF released the meeting schedule, which stated that Nigeria's loan program would be reviewed on April 29, followed by the Kiribati and Montenegro programs at the May 1 meeting. However, Pakistan's name was not included in the list.

Earlier statements by both the IMF and Pakistani officials had indicated that the board would approve the release of the final $1.1 billion tranche under the SBA program at its meeting on April 29, which was agreed in June 2023.

After the IMF calendar sparked speculation in Pakistan that the country was off the board's agenda, some believed that Pakistan might need to renegotiate to receive the final tranche.

A former World Bank official said these speculations are baseless, adding that the IMF does not operate in such a way that if a decision to delay a program is made, it is done openly, not secretly.

He explained that although the meeting may be delayed due to scheduling complications, it usually does not affect any program after the staff-level agreement.

On March 20, a staff-level agreement was reached between Pakistan and the IMF, a development that paved the way for the release of $1.1 billion in the final installment of the loan to Pakistan. 1.90 billion dollars have been received from the IMF in two installments.