Facility, if agreed to, will bolster Pakistan\u2019s reserves and reduce reliance on multilateral financing
\n islamabad
\nPakistan has asked the United States for a $10 billion exchange stabilisation facility, according to a source briefed on the matter, which, if approved, could provide a lifeline for the cash-strapped South Asian economy.
\nThe request, which is being reported for the first time, follows Pakistan\u2019s role in brokering talks over the US-Iran war, which raised its diplomatic profile and stirred hopes that it could seek economic gains from Washington and other partners.
\nIn the request to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Islamabad is seeking a Bilateral Exchange Stabilisation Support Facility between the US and the Pakistani government worth $10 billion with a maturity of up to five years.
\nThe facility, if agreed to, would bolster Pakistan\u2019s reserves, ease pressure on the rupee and reduce its reliance on multilateral financing, even as Islamabad undertakes tighter fiscal and monetary policies in line with its International Monetary Fund programme. The US Treasury declined to comment on the reported request. Pakistan\u2019s finance ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters\u2019 request for comment outside of Asia business hours.
\nFinance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met with Bessent in Washington on Tuesday and said he had raised the vulnerability of the country\u2019s economy to regional geopolitical developments, the ministry said in a statement that did not mention the request.
\n\u201cSenator Aurangzeb sought greater US support for Pakistan\u2019s road to market, underpinned by improved access to international capital markets, higher foreign exchange reserves, and enhanced sovereign credit ratings,\u201d it said, adding that both sides reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral economic cooperation, promoting greater US investment, and advancing strategic projects.
\nPakistan remains under $7 billion IMF discipline that has required politically unpopular tax increases, spending restraint and reforms. Exchange stabilisation facilities are rare US Treasury backstops, usually routed via the Exchange Stabilisation Fund, that provide dollars, swaps or guarantees to support reserves and steady currencies.
\nThese facilities are different from the permanent standing dollar swap lines that the US Federal Reserve has with some major central banks and act as an international supply line of US dollars to underpin financial stability.
\nA 2025 Argentina package was the first new foreign-government exchange stabilisation facility operation since Uruguay in 2002, aside from Mexico\u2019s long-standing swap line, dating to the 1940s and now sized at $9 billion.
\nPakistan narrowly avoided default in 2023 with a $3 billion IMF standby deal and later secured a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility, along with a separate $1.3 billion loan to build up its resilience to climate change and natural disasters. But its reserves still depend on official financing, rollovers and deposits from China and Saudi Arabia.
\nThat leaves Islamabad exposed to shifts in bilateral support and IMF disbursement delays. That vulnerability was exposed in April when Pakistan repaid about $3.5 billion, one-fifth of its reserves, to the United Arab Emirates with Saudi Arabia providing $3 billion in fresh support.
\nState Bank of Pakistan said in January that reserves could return to near their 2021 record, reaching $20 billion by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Facility, if agreed to, will bolster Pakistan\u2019s reserves and reduce reliance on multilateral financing islamabad Pakistan has asked the United States for a $10 billion exchange stabilisation facility, according to a source briefed on the matter, which, if approved, could provide a lifeline for the cash-strapped South Asian economy. The request, which is being reported […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-557803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n