Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s finance minister, tweeted that the United Arab Emirates has received confirmation from the IMF on their bilateral help of $1 billion for Pakistan.
He continued, “State Bank of Pakistan is currently working on the necessary papers for accepting the abovementioned deposit from UAE authorities.
IMF program — 9th Review Update:
UAE authorities have confirmed to IMF for their bilateral support of US $ One billion to Pakistan.
State Bank of Pakistan is now engaged for needful documentation for taking the said deposit from UAE authorities.
AlhamdoLilah!
— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) April 14, 2023
This comes after Dar postponed his travel to Washington last week in order to avoid increasing hopes for debt relief in the upcoming days at the IMF-World Bank meetings. His post implies that new money will be arriving in Pakistan in the upcoming weeks.
After the government maintained that it had completed all prerequisites to get a crucial bailout from the IMF, managing director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva stated during a news briefing in Washington on Thursday that Pakistan’s debt remained manageable.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are less than a month’s worth, and it is currently waiting on an IMF bailout package worth $1.1 billion that has been put off since November because of problems with its fiscal policy.
Pakistan must guarantee that its balance of payments deficit is fully covered for the fiscal year ending in June in order to release the next tranche of IMF funding. In addition to the UAE cash, Pakistan anticipates obtaining foreign funding from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some notable multilateral lending organisations aside from the IMF.
