KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board is scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss the first review of Pakistan’s $7 billion bailout program, the lender said on Thursday.
The IMF executive board is expected to sign off on a staff-level agreement that would trigger a $1 billion payout as well as Pakistan’s new $1.3 billion arrangement under a climate resilience loan program granted in March.
The development comes amid Pakistan’s efforts to boost investment amid a gradually healing macroeconomic environment after a prolonged downturn that forced Islamabad to seek external financing from friendly nations and multilateral donors.
On Thursday, the IMF shared a tentative calendar of formal meetings and seminars of its executive board on its website, with the first review of Pakistan’s loan program scheduled to take place on Friday, May 9.
“First review under the extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility, request for modification of performance criteria, and request for an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility,” it read.
Debt-ridden Pakistan, which had repaid or rolled over most of the $26 billion foreign loans it had to repay this year, expects its foreign exchange reserves to increase to $14 billion by the end of next month on the back of expected realization of planned official inflows.
The South Asian country was able to build some trust with the IMF by completing a short-term, nine-month program last year. Previous loan programs in Pakistan ended prematurely or saw delays after the governments at the time faltered on meeting key conditions.
The board’s approval has most of the time been a formality after the signing of a staff-level agreement between the Washington-based lender and the authorities in Islamabad.
IMF board to meet today for first review of Pakistan’s $7 billion bailout
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IMF board to meet today for first review of Pakistan’s $7 billion bailout
- Pakistan, which repaid or rolled over most of $26 billion foreign loans this year, expects its foreign exchange reserves to increase to $14 billion after expected inflows
- Previous programs in Pakistan ended prematurely or saw delays, but Islamabad built some trust with IMF by completing a short-term, nine-month program last year
Death toll in Pakistan wedding suicide blast rises to six
- Attack targeted members of local peace committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan rose to six, police said on Saturday, after funeral prayers were held for those killed in the attack a day earlier.
The bomber detonated explosives during a wedding gathering in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, injuring more than a dozen, some of them critically.
“The death toll has surged to six,” said Nawab Khan, Superintendent of Police for Saddar Dera Ismail Khan. “Police have completed the formalities and registered the case against unidentified attackers.”
“It was a suicide attack and the Counter Terrorism Department will further investigate the case,” he continued, adding that security had been stepped up across the district to prevent further incidents.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.
Khan cautioned against speculation, citing ongoing militancy in the area, and said the investigation was being treated with “utmost seriousness.”
The explosion targeted the home of a member of a local peace committee, which is part of community-based groups that cooperate with security forces and whose members have frequently been targeted by militants in the past.
Some media reports also cited a death toll of seven, quoting police authorities.
Emergency officials said several of the wounded were taken to hospital soon after the blast.
Militant attacks have intensified in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Afghan authorities of “facilitating” cross-border assaults, a charge Kabul denies.
