ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met the UAE's top envoy in the country, Ambassador Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi on Thursday, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to push Islamabad to seek external financing commitments from its allies to revive a stalled loan program. 

Pakistan and the IMF have been negotiating since early February to resume $1.1 billion in funding held since November, part of a $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019. 

To release the funds, the international lender has said a staff-level agreement with Pakistan would follow after financing assurances from other multilateral institutions, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and bilateral partners like China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are received. 

While China has rolled over $2 billion in loan to Pakistan, Pakistan's junior finance minister Aisha Ghaus Pasha confirmed last week Riyadh had assured the IMF it would finance the South Asian country. An assurance from the UAE seems to be the last hurdle in Pakistan's way to obtaining the loan from the global lender. 

The IMF funding is critical for Pakistan to unlock other external financing avenues to avert a default on its obligations. Its diminished central bank reserves that barely cover four weeks of imports.

On Thursday, Al-Zaabi invited PM Sharif to attend the UN climate change conference, COP28, which is scheduled to be held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, 2023. 

"Prime Minister thanked the UAE leadership for the invitation. He also expressed his gratitude for their support in relief efforts in the wake of devastating floods in Pakistan last year," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said. 

Sharif appreciated the UAE’s role in combating climate change and hoped the country's stewardship of the COP28 would "yield meaningful outcomes for countries like Pakistan, which are most vulnerable to climate change."

 

The premier recalled his earlier visit to the UAE, adding that it is both countries' resolve to translate their fraternal bonds into mutually rewarding economic ties.

 

"Prime Minister also stated that the UAE is home to 1.7 million Pakistanis, contributing to the progress, prosperity and economic development of the two brotherly countries," the PMO said.