Web Desk (LTN NEWS): On Friday Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa talked to Saudi Arabian and UAE officials about Pakistan’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Good news is expected for Pakistan after COAS General Bajwa’s intervention amid the economic crisis
“Pakistan is likely to get good news,” he said.
The lender has tied the release of the tranche to Pakistan’s ability to fill a $4 billion funding gap, which it hopes to do with help from friendly countries.
Last month, at the end of the month, COAS Bajwa called US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and asked the US to help Islamabad get $1.2 billion in IMF funds early.
The army chief went to the Biden administration to ask for help getting the IMF to stop the economy from getting worse and the rupee from falling to record lows.
Since then, though, the local currency has gotten stronger after July import data and an announcement by the lender that Pakistan has done everything it needed to do to get the $6 billion loan program, which had been on hold for months, back on track.
Pakistan and the IMF had reached an agreement on the seventh and eighth reviews at the staff level, but the final approval from the Fund’s Executive Board isn’t expected until later this month.
