Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Tuesday said that the government is trying to find a mechanism to get the full pending finances of $2.6 billion under the loan programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Speaking in the Geo News program Capital Talk, the finance minister expressed hope that an agreement would be reached with the global lender for the release of the much-needed $1.1 billion tranche. The minister pointed out that under the loan programme total outstanding funds are around $2.6 billion. He highlighted that the government is trying to find a way out for the release of the entire pending amount of around $2.6 billion.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had a telephonic conversation with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva where he expressed hope that the lender will announce its decision on the current loan program in the next couple of days.
With the $6.5-billion Extended Fund Facility agreed in 2019 set to expire on June 30, the government is in a race against time to unlock $1.1 billion under the ninth review. The ninth review has been pending since November and since February the government has time and again expressed hope that it will reach a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF soon, however, with little success.
