Pakistan receives second tranche of IMF funding

Islamabad: Pakistan is scheduled to start virtual discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the country’s upcoming fiscal budget after the visit of the IMF mission was delayed due to security reasons amid the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan which have affected flight operations nationwide.

Sources said that the IMF virtual talks holds pivotal value as the country’s government will present Pakistan’s proposed budget details to the newly-elected IMF mission chief to Pakistan.

“We still hope that the new mission chief would be able to travel to Islamabad over the weekend, which is subject to security situation. However, the adjustment to have the discussion virtually would not affect the work or the original programme schedule,” said one official.

Details revealed that the first round of the virtual discussions will start on Wednesday and continue for at least three days.

“Discussions are expected to be held virtually for the first leg. For the second leg of the talks, the IMF team is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Saturday and stay till May 23,” a source said.

The IMF discussion on the fiscal budget are happening at a time when Pakistan received its second tranche of funding from the IMF under the Extended Funding Facility (EFF).

Pakistan’s State Bank confirmed that it has received Special Drawing Rights (SDR) Rs 760 million ($1.023 billion) as part of the second tranche under the IMF EFF programme, adding that the latest disbursement will be recorded in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

The latest disbursement of IMF’s second tranche to Pakistan follows an approval from the IMF Executive Board on May 9. The IMF also cleared a $1.4 billion funding arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) to support Pakistan’s climate resilience initiatives during the meeting. (IANS)

Also Read: All-women group of Indian Haj pilgrims accorded grand welcome in Jeddah

Also Watch: