Pakistan, IMF reach staff-level agreement for $1.2bn tranche

Dawn reported that the International Monetary Fund has agreed at staff level with Islamabad on the fourth review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility, alongside the third review of the $1.4bn Resilience and Sustainability Facility. The lender said the deal would let Pakistan draw about $1.2bn in roughly four to five weeks, though it still needs approval from the IMF Executive Board.

Once the Board approves, Pakistan would gain access to about $1bn under the Extended Fund Facility and about $210 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, lifting total disbursements under both to roughly $5.7bn. The IMF also concluded its Article IV consultation, describing programme implementation as broadly on track despite testing external conditions.

Headline inflation fell to about 10.3 per cent in September, down from its May peak, while gross reserves reached roughly $21.5bn by end-September. The IMF urged the State Bank of Pakistan to keep an appropriately tight stance, and called for prompt phase-out of the fuel support scheme along with timely tariff adjustments to prevent renewed circular debt.