The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss the first review of Pakistan’s $7 billion bailout program, the lender said on Thursday.
The IMF executive board is expected to sign off on a staff-level agreement that would trigger a $1 billion payout as well as Pakistan’s new $1.3 billion arrangement under a climate resilience loan program granted in March.
The development comes amid Pakistan’s efforts to boost investment amid a gradually healing macroeconomic environment after a prolonged downturn that forced Islamabad to seek external financing from friendly nations and multilateral donors.
On Thursday, the IMF shared a tentative calendar of formal meetings and seminars of its executive board on its website, with the first review of Pakistan’s loan program scheduled to take place on Friday, May 9.
“First review under the extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility, request for modification of performance criteria, and request for an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility,” it read.
Debt-ridden Pakistan, which had repaid or rolled over most of the $26 billion foreign loans it had to repay this year, expects its foreign exchange reserves to increase to $14 billion by the end of next month on the back of expected realization of planned official inflows.
The South Asian country was able to build some trust with the IMF by completing a short-term, nine-month program last year. Previous loan programs in Pakistan ended prematurely or saw delays after the governments at the time faltered on meeting key conditions.
The board’s approval has most of the time been a formality after the signing of a staff-level agreement between the Washington-based lender and the authorities in Islamabad.
