Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had transferred $1.2 billion to the central bank\u2019s account.<\/p>\n
He made the remarks while addressing the media a day after the global money lender approved a $3 billion loan agreement for Pakistan, unlocking crucial funding for the troubled economy.<\/p>\n
The board approved the bailout package for the country for an amount of $2.25bn Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) \u2014 reserve funds that the institution credits to the accounts of its member nations, the IMF said in a statement. This amounts to about $3bn, or 111 per cent of Pakistan\u2019s quota, it said.<\/p>\n
In his address, Dar noted that the IMF\u2019s Executive Board had approved the standby-agreement with Pakistan (SBA). He also noted that this was a nine-month programme under which Islamabad would receive $3bn.<\/p>\n
He said that when the SBA was finalised, it was decided that $1.2bn would be given upfront while the \u201cbalance amount\u201d of $1.8bn would be handed over after two reviews in November and February.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo in that regard, I want to share the information that the upfront payment of $1.2bn, the IMF has transferred it to the State Bank of Pakistan\u2019s (SBP) account.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that the funds would shore up Pakistan\u2019s foreign exchange reserves, noting that this would also include the $1bn transferred by the United Arab Emirates a day earlier.<\/p>\n
The minister said that there had been a $4.2bn increase in the SBP\u2019s reserves during the week. \u201cSo I am expecting that our forex reserves will close at $13-14bn by tomorrow. The state bank will give the exact numbers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dar also took the opportunity to thank Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying that the process with the IMF had been ongoing for the past eight months. He said that Pakistan went for a \u201csmaller\u201d SBA with the IMF instead of the ninth review of the loan programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis (programme) has been limited to nine months so that whichever government comes into power after the elections, can make its owns decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had transferred $1.2 billion to the central bank\u2019s account. He made the remarks while addressing the media a day after the global money lender approved a $3 billion loan agreement for Pakistan, unlocking crucial funding for the troubled economy. The board approved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-342772","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n