The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to convene on April 29 to deliberate on the approval of $1.1 billion in funding for Pakistan, as announced by the fund on Wednesday.
This funding represents the second and final tranche of a $3 billion standby arrangement with the IMF, which was secured last summer to prevent a sovereign default and is set to expire this month.
Pakistan is currently in pursuit of a new long-term, larger IMF loan. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has indicated that Islamabad aims to attain a staff-level agreement on the new program by early July. While Islamabad has expressed the need for a loan spanning at least three years to bolster macroeconomic stability and implement crucial structural reforms, specifics regarding the size of the desired program remain undisclosed.
Although Islamabad has yet to formally request the loan, discussions between the Fund and the government are already underway.
If approved, this would mark Pakistan’s 24th IMF bailout.
The $350 billion economy grapples with a persistent balance of payment crisis, with approximately $24 billion due in debt and interest payments over the next fiscal year—three times more than the central bank’s foreign currency reserves.
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The finance ministry anticipates the economy to expand by 2.6% in the current fiscal year ending in June, with average inflation projected to hover around 24%, a slight decrease from 29.2% recorded in fiscal year 2023/2024. Inflation surged to a record high of 38% last May.
