"It reflects the growing confidence of our brotherly countries and the international community in Pakistan's economic turnaround," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said., Pakistan secured a last-gasp $3 billion IMF bailout on the last day of June, though it still needs approval from the IMF board, which is meeting on Wednesday.
Under the nine-month arrangement, Pakistan will receive about $1.1 billion upfront and the IMF will stagger disbursements of the rest. The IMF deal will unlock more bilateral and multilateral financing in addition to the money from Saudi Arabia, and Dar has said that he expects Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves will have risen to $15 billion by the end of this month.Pakistan's sovereign rating to CCC from CCC-, and the bailout has brought some relief to investors in the country's stocks and bonds.
Sharif's coalition government, which is due to face a national election later this year, has to undertake more painful fiscal discipline measures to satisfy the IMF, and the central bank has raised its policy interest rate to a record high of 22% while ordinary Pakistanis are struggling with inflation running at about 29%.Our Standards:Shahzad is an accomplished media professional, with over two decades of experience.