On Thursday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that the assurance of funding from “friendly countries” was the final obstacle to securing an IMF deal that would provide critical support to Pakistan’s struggling economy and prevent an economic crisis.
During a session of the country’s upper house of parliament, Dar revealed that several countries had previously made commitments to support Pakistan during IMF reviews, and the IMF was now requesting that these commitments be fulfilled.
The delay in securing the deal, which involves a $1.1 billion bailout package from the IMF, has been ongoing since November due to issues surrounding fiscal policy adjustments. The package is part of a larger $6.5 billion bailout approved by the IMF in 2019, which is crucial for Pakistan to avoid defaulting on external payment obligations.
The deal would also allow Pakistan to access other financing avenues to bolster its foreign exchange reserves, which currently only cover four weeks’ worth of imports.
The IMF has asked Pakistan to secure assurance of up to $7 billion to cover this year’s balance of payments gap, while Dar believes that $5 billion would suffice.
An IMF mission has been present in Islamabad since February to negotiate a set of policy measures for Pakistan’s struggling economy, ahead of the annual budget due in June.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that all of the IMF’s conditions had been met, and expressed hope that a staff level agreement would be reached soon.
