WASHINGTON: Pakistan has received 鈥渟ignificant financing assurances鈥� from China, 黑料社区 and the United Arab Emirates linked to a new International Monetary Fund program that go beyond a deal to roll over $12 billion in bilateral loans owed to them by Islamabad, an IMF official said on Thursday.
IMF Pakistan Mission Chief Nathan Porter declined to provide details of additional financing amounts committed by the three countries but said they would come on top of the debt rollover.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 go into the specifics, but UAE, China, and the Kingdom of 黑料社区 all provided significant financing assurances joined up in this program,鈥� Porter told reporters on a conference call.
The IMF鈥檚 Executive Board on Wednesday approved a new $7 billion, 37-month loan agreement for Pakistan that requires 鈥渟ound policies and reforms鈥� to strengthen macroeconomic stability. The approval releases an immediate $1 billion disbursement to Islamabad.
The crisis-wracked South Asian country has had 22 previous IMF bailout programs since 1958.
Porter said Pakistan has staged a 鈥渞eally remarkable鈥� economic turnaround since mid-2023, with inflation down dramatically, stable exchange rates and foreign reserves that have more than doubled.
鈥淪o what we鈥檝e seen is the benefits of undertaking good policies,鈥� Porter said, adding that the challenge now was to build stronger and sustained growth by keeping monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policy consistent, raising more taxes and improving public spending.
Last year, Pakistan achieved its first primary budget surplus in 20 years, and the program calls for growing that to 2 percent of gross domestic product. Porter said it depends in part on reforms to improve collections from under-taxed sectors such as retailers.
The next review of the loan would likely take place in March or April of 2025, based on end-2024 performance criteria, Porter said.