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[ad_1] WASHINGTON: China's agreement to restructure its loans to Sri Lanka paves the way for International Monetary Fund financing to the bankrupt island nation, the IMF said Tuesday, adding this would also speed up funding from others. "Sri Lanka has now received financing assurances from all major bilateral creditors," said Krishna Srinivasan , director of IMF's Asia and Pacific Department. This allows the fund's board to approve a loan earlier agreed upon by its staff. [ad_2] Source link https://worldnews2023.com/business/imf-china-backing-paves-way-for-sri-lanka-financing-imf-times-of-india/?feed_id=294302&_unique_id=6604deab127d2

[ad_1] ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reached a staff-level pact with Pakistan on a $3 billion stand-by arrangement, the lender said, a decision long awaited by the South Asian nation which is teetering on the brink of default. The deal, subject to approval by the IMF board in July, comes after an eight-month delay and offers some respite to Pakistan, which is battling an acute balance of payments crisis and falling foreign exchange reserves. The $3 billion funding, spread over nine months, is higher than expected for Pakistan. The country was awaiting the release of the remaining $2.5 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package agreed in 2019, which expired on Friday. The new stand-by arrangement builds on the 2019 programme, IMF official Nathan Porter said in a statement on Thursday, adding that Pakistan's economy had faced several challenges in recent times, including devastating floods last year and commodity price hikes following the war in Ukrain

[ad_1] A National Assembly session is under way to pass a crucial tax amendment bill to fulfil the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive a stalled loan programme that the country needs to stave off default. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar introduced the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2023. Addressing the lower house of parliament, Dar compared the performance of the previous PML-N and PTI governments. He said that during former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s tenure, the GDP per capita increased while the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) market capitalisation was $100 billion. However, the PSX’s market capitalisation declined to $26bn during the PTI government, he said, adding that the decrease showed a lack of investor confidence in the previous government. Dar also criticised the PTI government for increasing the country’s debts significantly. “In 2017-18, GDP growth had surpassed six per cent, inflation was at 5pc, food inflation at 2pc … After the 2018 el

[ad_1] Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that Pakistan’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) related to the completion of the ninth review of a $7 billion loan programme were near conclusion and the staff-level agreement with the global lender will be signed by next week. The government is in a race against time to implement measures to reach an agreement with the IMF as the country has reserves barely enough for three weeks of essential imports, while hotly contested elections are due by November. In a series of tweets today, the finance czar rubbished rumours regarding Pakistan defaulting. “Anti-Pakistan elements are spreading malicious rumours that Pakistan may default. This is not only completely false but also belies the facts,” he said. Dar said that the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) forex reserves had been increasing and were almost near $1 billion, “higher than four weeks ago despite making all external due payments on time”. “Foreign

[ad_1] Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Friday reiterated his commitment to transparency and accountability in financial matters, particularly concerning the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). During his address to the National Assembly session, the minister said: “Any important developments in the country should be presented in the assembly”. “I will bring the documents of the IMF agreement in this House as the Finance Minister,” Dar asserted, assuring the lawmakers and the public that he would make the necessary documents available for scrutiny and review. Regarding the Letter of Intent, Dar revealed that it had been signed on June 30. He asserted that the MEFP (Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies) and PFP (Policy Framework Paper) were attached to the Letter of Intent. He announced his intention to keep one copy of the three documents associated with the agreement in the assembly library, making them accessible to all m

[ad_1] Steadfast policy implementation is critical for Pakistan in the period ahead, International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokesperson Julie Kozack said Thursday, after the lender approved a bailout for the cash-starved. "This will be critical for success of the programme and, of course, ultimately, for to aid and support the people of Pakistan," the IMF spokesperson's said in a press conference. Under a short-term plan, the IMF had earlier this week approved a nine-month $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Pakistan to support the authorities' economic stabilization programme. The government had been vying to secure an IMF loan for the last eight months, but disagreement over fiscal policies led to the expiry of an earlier programme. However, the lender and Pakistan agreed on the SBA, saving the nation from a sovereign default. The IMF has demanded Pakistan strengthen its public finances, increase its tax revenues, maintain discipline over non-critical

[ad_1] Following Pakistan's staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the weekend, Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Monday witnessed a bullish trend as the KSE-100 benchmark index gained over 2,200 points. In an extraordinary turn of events, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a remarkable surge in its indices on the first working day following the successful conclusion of a highly anticipated $3 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The stock market halted briefly within the first 10 minutes of trading as the KSE30 index soared by an impressive 5%, causing the session to restart later at 10:37 pm. The KSE100 index, a prominent benchmark of market performance, displayed a significant upswing of 2,231.1 points to reach 43,683.78 points. On Friday, IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan on a $3 billion stand-by arrangement. The international lender said this in a statement – a decision long awaited by the c

[ad_1] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan have reached to nine-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) of around US$3 billion, according to press statement issued by the fund. “I am pleased to announce that the IMF team has reached a staff-level agreement with the Pakistani authorities on a nine-month Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) in the amount of SDR2,250 million (about $3 billion or 111 percent of Pakistan’s IMF quota)”, said Nathan Porter, who was leading IMF staff team in meetings with Pakistan. The staff-level agreement is subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board, with its consideration expected by mid-July, the statement added. Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar also shared the agreement on his twitter on Friday. The new SBA will support the authorities’ immediate efforts to stabilize the economy from recent external shocks, preserve macroeconomic stability and provide a framework for financing from multilateral and bilate