Pakistan\u2019s gross financing needs in the current fiscal year would be more than fully met under the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme while an extra cushion of $4 billion would be arranged, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Finance have said.<\/p>\n
A joint statement issued on Sunday noted that the country\u2019s financing needs stemmed from a $10bn current account deficit as well as external debt repayments of around $24bn.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to bolster Pakistan\u2019s foreign exchange reserves position, it is important for Pakistan to be slightly overfinanced relative to these needs,\u201d it said. Consequently, besides the $1.2bn tranche expected to be released by the IMF in the coming weeks, funding commitments amounting to $4bn were being arranged through a number of different channels, including friendly countries.<\/p>\n
The statement said Pakistan\u2019s problems were temporary and were being forcefully addressed. Highlighting these problems, the SBP and finance ministry noted that the country\u2019s foreign reserves had fallen since February as outflows surpassed inflows while the exchange rate had come under pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe paucity of inflows has happened in large part due to the delay in completing the next review of the IMF programme, which has lingered since February due to policy slippages. Meanwhile, on the outflows side, debt servicing on foreign borrowing has continued as repayments on these debts have been coming due over this period.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the exchange rate had come under significant pressure, especially since mid-June, due to general USD tightening, rising current account deficit, declining reserves and worsening sentiment due to the delay in the IMF agreement and domestic politics, the statement noted.<\/p>\n
It pointed out that the staff-level agreement with the IMF had been reached last month while the ruling coalition had also announced that it would complete its tenure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan\u2019s gross financing needs in the current fiscal year would be more than fully met under the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme while an extra cushion of $4 billion would be arranged, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Finance have said. A joint statement issued on Sunday noted that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5098,9934,20,414],"class_list":{"0":"post-274948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-finance-ministry","9":"tag-fy23","10":"tag-pakistan","11":"tag-sbp"},"yoast_head":"\n