IMF money to arrive in Pakistan by August-end: report

The development follows the completion of the $4 billion in bilateral financing from four friendly nations, including China and Saudi Arabi

The IMF's executive board will meet on August 29 to approve a bailout package for cash-strapped Pakistan within this month, including the pending disbursement of about $1.18 billion, a media report said on Saturday.

The development follows the completion of the $4 billion in bilateral financing from four friendly nations, including China and Saudi Arabia, and would pave the way for immediate disbursement, expected to be in Pakistan’s account before the end of working hours on August 31.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail told Dawn that a letter of intent (LOI) was received early Friday from the lender for the revival of the programme under the staff level agreement (SLA) and memorandum of economic and fiscal policies (MEFP) signed last month.

“We are going through the LOI, would sign and send [it] back to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) anytime soon and look forward to (executive) board meeting later this month for approval,” he said.

Sources said the executive board would meet on August 29 to take up Pakistan’s case for approval of the completion of the seventh and eighth reviews of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), besides a $1 billion increase in the size of the programme to $7 billion and the extension of its tenure to August 2023.

They also said the board meeting was convened after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and China confirmed to the IMF that they had completed arrangements for $4 billion in bilateral financing to Pakistan, which was the last hitch to the bailout package after completion of all the prior actions agreed under the SLA.

The IMF board’s clearance was expected to reverse continuously depleting foreign exchange reserves, strengthen the Pakistani rupee and support the balance of payments.