ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday received $1 billion loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the $6 billion program it secured in 2019, the Pakistani central bank said.
The IMF revived Pakistan’s $6 billion loan program on Wednesday after the government met its key conditions, including parliamentary backing for the central bank’s autonomy, uniform implementation of sales tax, and increase in power tariffs.
The loan was offered to the country in July 2019 under the global lender’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) after Islamabad accepted its condition to undertake structural reforms and allow periodic performance reviews.
"Following the successful completion of the 6th review of the IMF program, SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) has received the next tranche of $1.053 billion," the Pakistani central bank said in a statement.
Pakistan’s national currency on Friday recovered 0.60 percent against the US dollar, which closed at Rs174.48.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the rupee hit a historic low of Rs178.24 against the greenback on December 29. Its upturn on Friday was the highest single-day recovery since December 31.
“The recovery of the Pak rupee primarily owes to the revival of the IMF program and the foreign trade data,” Samiullah Tariq, director research at Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company, told Arab News. “The inflow of $1 billion sukuk proceed also played a key role in the positive market sentiment.”
Pakistan’s economy is set to continue recovering in fiscal year 2021-22, with real GDP growth projected at 4 percent, according to the IMF. Inflation is expected to pick up before gradually slowing down this year.