WASHINGTON: Pakistan hopes to agree the contours of a new International Monetary Fund loan in May, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters, and has kicked off talks with ratings agencies to lay the groundwork for a return to international debt markets.
The country’s current $3 billion arrangement with the fund runs out in late April and the government is seeking a longer and bigger loan to help bring permanence to macroeconomic stability as well as an umbrella under which the country can execute much needed structural reforms, the minister said.
“We expect the IMF mission to be in Islamabad around the middle of May — and that is when some of these contours will start developing,” said Aurangzeb, who met with the Fund’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Wednesday during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings.
He declined to outline what size program the government hoped to secure, though Pakistan is expected to seek at least $6 billion. Aurangzeb added that once the IMF loan was agreed, Pakistan would also request additional financing from the Fund under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust.
The struggling South Asian nation had managed to accumulate foreign exchange reserves in recent months and was on track for its war chest to hit $10 billion — or roughly two months import cover — by end-June.
The debt situation also looked more benign, Aurangzeb said.
“The bulk of our bilateral debt — including our China debt — is being rolled over, so in that sense I think we are in good shape and I don’t see a big issue during this fiscal year nor next fiscal year, cause we need to repay roughly $25 billion dollars every fiscal year.”
Pakistan also hopes to come back to international capital markets, possibly with a green bond. However, there was some more work to be done before that happens, said Aurangzeb.
“We have to come back into a certain ratings environment,” he said, having kicked off talks with ratings agencies, adding the government was hoping to get an improvement in its sovereign rating in the next fiscal year.
“In all likelihood, any international capital markets issuance will likely be in the 2025/2026 fiscal year.”

KARACHI: Five Japanese workers narrowly escaped on Friday after a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vest near the van carrying them to their workplace, police said.
The Hiace van was on its way to an industrial area where the five Japanese nationals worked at Pakistan Suzuki Motors, according to local police chief Arshad Awan.
Police escorting the vehicle returned fire after coming under attack, killing an accomplice of the suicide bomber whose remains were found from the scene of the attack, he added. Three bystanders were wounded. 
“All the Japanese who were the target of the attack are safe,” Awan told media. 
Television footage on local news channels widely showed a damaged van, as police officers arrived at the scene of the attack. Awan said the three passersby who were wounded in the attack were in stable condition at a hospital.
Police were escorting the van after receiving reports about possible attacks on foreigners who are working in Pakistan on various Chinese-funded and other projects, said Tariq Mastoi, a senior police officer. He said a timely and quick response from the guards and police foiled the attack and both attackers were killed.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the incident, according to a statement posted on X.
“Timely action by the police saved us from any major loss of life,” he said. “We will not rest until terrorism has been completely eradicated. We will thwart every nefarious act of disturbing the law and order situation.”
Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of Sindh, of which Karachi is the provincial capital, directed the inspector general to submit a report after investigating the attack, including details on who the attackers were, where they came from, any information on their facilitators and details of explosives used in the blast.
He directed that immediate arrangements be made for the security of all foreigners in the province. 
“Anti-national elements want to disrupt law and order, which will not be allowed at any cost,” the CM said, praising what he called timely action of the police in thwarting the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on a small separatist group or the Pakistani Taliban who have stepped up attacks on security forces.
In recent weeks, insurgents have also targeted Chinese who are working in Pakistan on projects relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which includes a multitude of megaprojects such as road construction, power plants and agriculture.
In March, five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed when a suicide bomber in northwest Pakistan rammed his explosive-laden car into a vehicle when they were heading to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in Pakistan, where they worked.
However, Japanese working in Pakistan have not been the target of any such attacks.
With inputs from AP