Pakistan is getting a new loan of 7 billion or 7 billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). To this end, the IMF and the Government of Pakistan have already reached a consensus.
Analysts say the IMF loan will give Shahbaz Sharif’s government a chance to breathe a sigh of relief to revive Pakistan’s weak economy.
According to a Bloomberg report, after 37 months of negotiations, the government of Pakistan and the IMF have reached an agreement on this loan. After independence, Pakistan is going to take IMF loan for 25 times. However, the concern is that this loan was taken at a time when the country has to repay 24 billion dollars in foreign debt this year.
The matter was announced after a meeting of high-level officials on Friday. However, the loan has not been officially approved yet. The IMF Executive Board will soon approve the loan, which is just a formality. However, no information has been released on when the loan will be waived or when the loan will be approved by the IMF Executive Board meeting.
Meanwhile, Shahbaz Sharif’s government has been forced to take several unpopular decisions to get this IMF loan. In particular, various measures have to be taken including tax increase in various sectors, fuel price increase. But things only increased the discontent among the people.
Prolonged economic crisis has forced Pakistan to take one IMF loan after another. Earlier, the country received a $3 billion loan from the IMF in April this year. Pakistan’s post-debt inflation has come down from 28 percent in January last year to 12 percent today.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last May that the loan package was necessary to attract more foreign investment. To this end, Sharif is seeking funds from Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and pushing for the second phase of China’s multi-billion economic corridor in Pakistan.
