Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa reportedly spoke with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates’ top officials on Friday in relation to economic assistance for the country.
According to reports, the International Monetary Fund loan program was discussed, and Pakistan is likely to see progress in this area. The development came days after Gen. Bajwa reportedly contacted Washington to assist Islamabad in obtaining an early dispersal of $1.2 billion under the IMF program in order to reduce the risk of defaulting on debt.
Pakistan and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement over the release of the funds to support the country’s fragile economy. The staff-level agreement between IMF and Pakistan will ease the way for the $1.2 billion disbursement, which is expected in August after the board approves it.
The IMF announced on Tuesday that Pakistan had fulfilled the final requirement for the combined seventh and eighth reviews. The IMF also stated that a board meeting is currently tentatively scheduled for late August once adequate financing assurances would be confirmed.
IMF’s Resident Representative for Pakistan Esther Perez in a statement released to the media also acknowledged the completion of final prior actions for IMF’s seventh and eighth review.
