The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that Pakistan has made substantial progress for the bailout revival in recent days.
“As authorities have also noted, substantial progress has been made in discussions towards policies to underpin the ninth EFF review in recent days. At this point, ensuring there is sufficient financing to support the authorities in the implementation of their policy agenda is the paramount priority,” the lender’s Resident Representative Esther Perez Ruiz said on Monday.
She added, “A staff-level agreement will follow once the few remaining points are closed”.
Pakistan needs assurances from bilateral creditors for $6 billion in additional loans or risk stalling the IMF SLA. Except for the external financing requirement, the South Asian nation has completed almost all prior actions posed by the lender.
Since negotiations for the 9th review commenced last year, the IMF has leaned on Pakistan’s bilateral creditors to boost available funding given the country’s need for large debt rollovers.
It bears mentioning that the Fund estimates a financing gap of about $7 billion for the current fiscal year, compared to Pakistan’s projection of $5 billion.
