New Delhi: There is relief news for Pakistan, which has been facing a severe financial crisis, bad economy, and crisis for a long time. In fact, the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday gave the necessary approval to restore Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EAF) program. Due to this decision, now Pakistan will get $ 1.17 billion in loans in the form of 7th and 8th installments.
On the matter, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Mifta Ismail said that the IMF has approved the resumption of the EAF program. In this regard, he wrote on Twitter, “We will get $ 1.17 billion in the 7th and 8th installments.” Let us tell you that before this, Pakistan and IMF had signed an agreement of $ 6 billion in July 2019 but in January 2020 this program got stuck and in March this year it was reinstated for some time.
1.2 billion USD to Pakistan immediately
On the matter, Dawn newspaper reported that the IMF will now immediately disburse about USD 1.2 billion to Pakistan and can provide up to USD 4 billion in the remaining part of the current financial year, which began on July 1. However, an official statement is yet to be issued by the global lender.
Pakistan has borrowed from many countries
According to other media reports, Pakistan has so far managed to secure loans, financing, deferred oil payments, and investment commitments of close to USD 12 billion from China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. This will help this cash-starved country avoid defaults for the time being.
America is helping behind the scenes
According to Tamannaah Salikuddin, Director of South Asia Programs at the United States Institute of Peace on the matter, despite many differences, the US is still supporting loans through the IMF. This is because he does not want to see any crisis on the border of Afghanistan at the moment. In this way, Pakistan is saved from defaulting once again.
