IMF board to meet on July 12 to review Pakistan's loan agreement

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

IMF's executive board is set to meet on July 12 to review the USD 3 billion Standby Arrangement with cash-strapped Pakistan and will also possibly release the first tranche of USD 1.1 billion as part of the loan programme, a media report said on Wednesday. The Pakistan government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a long-awaited staff-level agreement on June 29 to inject USD 3 billion into the ailing economy after months-long negotiations that pushed the country to the brink of default.

The nine-month Stand-by Arrangement (SBA), if approved, will bring USD 3 billion, or 111 per cent of Pakistan's IMF quota which will ease the country's financial crisis, the Dawn newspaper reported from Washington. The initial disbursement is contingent upon the board's approval as the country continues to grapple with a severe balance of payments crisis and declining foreign exchange reserves.

Pakistan was absent from an earlier schedule released in June, igniting speculation that the Washington-based lender was not going to release funds from an earlier programme that expired on June 30. Pakistan was expecting about USD 2.5 billion from the Washington-based global lender but it was given USD 3 billion.

Pakistan had earlier cleared eight of the 11 listed programme reviews, with the ninth review pending since November last year, the report said. Meanwhile, Pakistan has submitted a letter of intent to the IMF, assuring the lender that no new tax amnesty will be introduced in the next nine months.