Business

Pakistan inches closer to IMF deal as UAE ‘confirms’ $1bn support

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

SBP is now engaged in needful documentation, Dar says.
Last week, IMF indicated it has received assurance from Riyadh.
IMF is securing confirmation from international partners.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday announced that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities have informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about their plans of providing $1bn support to Pakistan.

The move will pave way for Pakistan to unlock the critical $1.1 billion loan tranche from the IMF as the Fund was securing confirmation from international partners to meet the financing gap requirements of Pakistan.

“UAE authorities have confirmed to IMF for their bilateral support of [$1] billion to Pakistan,” Dar announced on Twitter.

IMF program — 9th Review Update:

UAE authorities have confirmed to IMF for their bilateral support of US $ One billion to Pakistan.

State Bank of Pakistan is now engaged for needful documentation for taking the said deposit from UAE authorities.

AlhamdoLilah!
— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) April 14, 2023

The finance minister added that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is now engaged in needful documentation for taking the said deposit from the UAE authorities.

Last week, the Washington-based Fund conveyed to Pakistan that it had received confirmation from Saudi Arabia on $2 billion in additional deposits.

“The IMF has indicated it has received the assurance from Riyadh”, State Minister for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha told reporters in Islamabad last week.

Saudi Arabia’s $2 billion and UAE’s $1 billion pledged in external financing support to Pakistan is one of the final conditions for an IMF deal that Islamabad needs to avert a default.

Pakistan has less than a month’s worth of foreign exchange reserves and is awaiting a bailout package of $1.1 billion from the IMF that has been delayed since November over issues related to fiscal policy adjustments.

‘Pakistan had not reached default level yet’

A day earlier, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that Pakistan had not reached the default level yet.

Georgieva, while addressing a news conference on the spring meeting of Breton Wood Institutions at the Washington-based Fund headquarters, said the Fund was securing confirmation from international partners to meet the financing gap requirements of Pakistan.

In response to a question regarding the looming default risk facing Pakistan, she said: “Pakistan had not yet reached that level and it would not but the country required a sustainable policy framework to avert such risks”.

She said the lender has been working very hard with the authorities in Pakistan within the context of the current programme to make sure the country has the policy framework in place to prevent reaching the point of unsustainable debt.

“My hope is that with the goodwill of everyone, and the implementation of what has been already agreed by the Pakistan authorities, we can complete our current programme successfully,” Georgieva maintained.

Business

Robust activity lets PSX climb above 115,000 level again.

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

On Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) resumed its upward trend, crossing 115,000 points once more.

The PSX had strong action in the morning session, as the KSE-100 index increased by 1,000 points to 115,138.

The notoriously volatile PSX closed Thursday at 114,037 points, up 594 points.

DOLLAR DEPRECIES

Meanwhile, in the interbank market this morning, the US dollar fell 7 paisas to Rs278.65 against the Pakistani rupee.

Business

SBP will announce monetary policy on January 27.

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will release its monetary policy on Monday.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP will convene on the first day of the following week to make decisions on monetary policy.

The Monetary Policy decision will be announced by Governor SBP Jameel Ahmad at a news conference on the same day after the MPC meeting, according to an official release.

In December, the central bank reduced policy rates by 200 basis points (bps) to 13 percent.

“In November 2024, headline inflation fell to 4.9 percent year on year, meeting the MPC’s estimates. This decrease was mostly caused by the ongoing decline in food inflation and the phasing out of the impact of the gas tariff increase in November 2023,” SBP stated in an official release.

“However, the Committee noted that core inflation, at 9.7 percent, is proving to be sticky, while consumer and business inflation expectations remain volatile.” To that end, the Committee restated its previous assessment that inflation may remain volatile in the short term before stabilizing within the target range.

“At the same time, growth prospects have slightly improved, as evidenced by a recent increase in high-frequency indicators of economic activity.” Overall, the Committee concluded that its approach of gradual policy rate decreases is keeping inflationary and external account pressures under control while promoting long-term economic growth.

Business

Finance Minister Meets With World Leaders at World Economic Forum in Davos

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

During his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has met with officials of organisations and leaders of many nations.
Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor, Muhammad Younas, met with Mohammad Aurangzeb.
On the fringes of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025 Opening Banquet, there was an informal meeting.
Additionally, the Finance Minister met with Anwar Ibrahim, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Both leaders discussed economic cooperation and bilateral ties.
Muhammad Aurangzeb also had a meeting with Dp World’s Rizwan Soomro and Yuvraj Narayan.
They talked about how to strengthen Pakistan’s logistics and infrastructure systems to support trade.
“The Pakistani government is committed to advancing joint projects and values partnerships in both business-to-business and business-to-government cooperation,” the finance minister added.