Islamabad: On Friday, the Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar announced that United Arab Emirates (UAE) had given assurance to the International Monetary Funds (IMF) of supporting Pakistan with $1 billion bilateral support. Hence, Pakistan has now completed the final requisite of the staff-level agreement with the global money lender.
On his official Twitter handle, Ishaq Dar said that the State Bank of Pakistan has begun working to complete the paperwork for receiving the deposit from the authorities of UAE.
IMF program — 9th Review Update:
UAE authorities have confirmed to IMF for their bilateral support of US $ One billion to Pakistan.
State Bank of Pakistan is now engaged for needful documentation for taking the said deposit from UAE authorities.
AlhamdoLilah!
— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) April 14, 2023
It is expected that the assurance from UAE would help in securing the loan tranche from IMF. Pakistan and IMF have been in negotiations since February 2023 for the revival of $7 billion bailout programme and unleash the $1.1 billion tranche. As the reserves of central bank are in a nose dive condition, the IMF programme holds significance to support the economy of Pakistan. Reports suggest that the foreign reserves of country are at the level of $4 billion.
Earlier, the Managing Director of IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, commented that both entities are in the position to successfully complete the programme. She added that IMF has been working with the authorities of Pakistan to ensure the country has the required policy framework for the revival of 2019 loan package.