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ISLAMABAD, April 19 (PTI) – Debt-ridden Pakistan has shared its plan with the IMF to secure an additional US$3 billion to meet the mandated by global banks to unleash the country’s stalled bailout package. Sexual Financing Guarantee, appears Wednesday.
The Washington-based global bank had asked Pakistan to arrange $6 billion in external financing, but has so far arranged only $3 billion after Saudi Arabia agreed to provide $2 billion and the United Arab Emirates pledged $1 billion. The $6 billion shortfall is based on the assumption that Pakistan’s current account deficit will remain at around $7 billion for the current fiscal year ending June 30, The Tribune reported on Wednesday.
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The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government has notified the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of its plans to secure the second tranche of the Institution for Sustainable Economic Resilience (RISE-II) Budget Support Loan worth $450 million, it says.
The government also unveiled plans to secure $1 billion from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and other commercial banks, in line with pledges made at the Geneva meeting.
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The Geneva conference in January pledged billions of dollars to help Pakistan meet the challenge of climate change.
The international community of 40 countries has pledged more than $10 billion in funding by 2022 for the devastating floods, which have caused an estimated $30 billion in infrastructure and economic damage.
Official sources said Pakistan had asked the fund to agree to a deal to release $1.1 billion from a $7 billion bilateral program struck in 2019 to make it easier to raise loans from global markets.
Interestingly, all bilateral and multilateral donors and countries also refused to lend to Islamabad until the IMF ratified its agreement.
The IMF imposed tough conditions in talks in February and refused to approve a staff-level deal to release funds.
Shehbaz Sharif’s government expressed pain and frustration at the fund’s poor conditions, but was forced to comply due to fears of default.
The prime minister had earlier said his country had met all the “draconian” conditions imposed by the IMF on the staff-level agreement and there should be no delay in ratifying it.
But the chances are believed to be slim and Pakistan will have to provide assurances that $3 billion will be arranged to bridge the funding gap.
Cash-strapped Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund failed to reach a staff-level agreement on a much-needed $1.1 billion rescue package aimed at preventing the country from going bankrupt.
The funds are part of a $6.5 billion rescue package approved by the International Monetary Fund in 2019, which analysts say is crucial if Pakistan is to avoid default on its foreign debt.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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