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Digital Desk: According to a media source on Saturday, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) called a meeting of its executive board on
August 29 to approve a bailout plan for cash-strapped Pakistan that included
delivery of approximately USD 1.18 billion by the end of the current month.
The action would clear the door for an immediate transfer, which
is anticipated to be in Pakistan's account before the end of business hours on
August 31. The decision follows the conclusion of the USD 4 billion in
bilateral finance from four friendly nations.
A letter of intent (LOI) was received early on Friday from the
lender for the renewal of the programme under the staff level agreement (SLA)
and memorandum of economic and fiscal policies (MEFP) inked last month,
according to finance minister Miftah Ismail's statement to Dawn.
We are reviewing the LOI, would sign it, and submit it back to
the IMF as soon as possible. We also anticipate the (executive) board meeting
later this month for approval, he added.
According to sources, the executive board will meet on August 29
to discuss Pakistan's request for approval of the conclusion of the seventh and
eighth reviews of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), as well as an increase of
USD 1 billion in the program's size to USD 7 billion and an extension of its
duration to August 2023.
They added that the board meeting was called after Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and China informed the IMF that they had
finalised plans to provide Pakistan with USD 4 billion in bilateral financing,
which was the bailout package's final sticking point after all previous actions
agreed upon under the SLA had been carried out.
The IMF board's approval was anticipated to stop Pakistan's
currency reserves from steadily declining, strengthen the rupee, and stabilize the balance of payments.
By raising the petroleum development levy on oil products on
July 31, the IMF made it known that Pakistan had finished all of the
prerequisite steps for the revival of its programme. However, the IMF executive
board conditionally approved the disbursement of USD 1.18 billion funds pending
confirmation of USD 4 billion in additional inflows from the four friendly
nations.
The finance minister had earlier claimed to have lined up USD
8.5 billion-USD 10 billion inflows from friendly countries against a financing
gap of USD 4 billion estimated by the IMF, but at the same time blamed
political turmoil in the country for steep currency depreciation and a bullish
stock market.
The much-anticipated staff-level agreement between the IMF and
Pakistan on a nine-month extension in the tenor and a USD 1 billion increase in
the rescue package's size to USD 7 billion, including an upfront distribution
of roughly USD 1.18 billion, was announced on July 13.
But the IMF executive board's approval was contingent on the
government completing a number of prerequisite tasks over the previous two
weeks.
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