Pakistan receives $1b loan from IMF

Pakistan has received much needed one billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would build the country’s foreign exchange reserves, media reported on Saturday.

As per media report, the Executive Board of the IMF on Wednesday had approved to release one billion dollars for Pakistan after Islamabad met five prior actions.

With the approval of the $1 billion tranche, the total IMF lending will increase to $3 billion under the programme.
Pakistan could receive further $3 billion in next few months from the IMF but it would be subject to completion of the remaining programme reviews.

The inflow from the IMF would help in building in country’s foreign exchange reserves, which are depleting. In last three weeks’ time, reserves have declined by $1.86 billion mainly on account of international debt servicing.
The reserves held by the SBP declined to $15.7 billion during the week ended on 28-January-2022. Meanwhile, the reserves would further come under pressure in the next six months as Pakistan has to repay $8.7 billion in the second half of FY2022.

On the other hand, the current account deficit is widening.