Pakistan expected to get $750m IMF loan in March: Daily Times

By Sajid Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is likely to receive a $750 million loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the end of March, after the successful completion of the first review of the two parties’ standby agreement.

Sources in the Finance Ministry told Daily Times the first review of the standby agreement with the IMF would be conducted in Dubai between February 14 and 24.

They said the key performance benchmark was a budget deficit at or below 4.2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the current fiscal year.

The other important benchmark, they added, was to maintain State Bank borrowing at Rs 258 billion at the end of each quarter.

They said Pakistan’s budget deficit had been estimated at around two percent of the GDP, much less than the target agreed upon with the IMF. Similarly, they added, the State Bank borrowing had been maintained at the agreed upon level so both conditions had been met successfully.

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