Finance Czar hopeful of securing IMF deal today

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed hope of securing the long-awaited $7 billion loan programme from International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the executive board's meeting today (September 25).

In his virtual address to an interactive session on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Mr Aurangzeb said that the IMF will approve the $7 billion bailout programme soon.

“We are hopeful the board will approve this 37-month programme for Pakistan, under which we are very committed to doing structural reforms,” he said.

The IMF and Pakistan will meet on September 25 (today) to discuss the loan programme, which has already passed the stage of staff-level-agreement in July.

The approval from the Fund’s top brass was tied to the delays in debt rollover confirmation from China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, as they wanted to cover a financing gap of $2 billion for the fiscal year 2025.

While listing the government’s achievements towards economic stability, Mr Auranzeb said that the government’s measures led the inflation trend down, stabilised the rupee, and cut the interest rate.

“The confidence of the investors is boosting up, which caused an increase in foreign investment,” said FinMin.

However, the minister believed that today's meeting would pave the way for the disbursement of loan money to Pakistan. 

Following the approval of the Executive Board of the Fund, dollars will be flowing into Pakistan’s account in installments.