IMF board to meet on Jan 11 on Pakistan’s loan programme

KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund’s executive board will meet Jan 11 to consider the final approval to disburse the next $700 million tranche from its current loan programme, according to a spokesperson quoted by Bloomberg.

Pakistan last month reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for the payment, under its existing $3 billion bailout package, and the board typically approves such deals. Pakistan, which is grappling with Asia’s fastest inflation, has about $1 billion in dollar-denominated debt due next year and is scheduled to hold elections scheduled in February of next year.

Interim Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar said after the staff-level deal in November that the country may seek an additional loan from the IMF, describing the economy as “still fragile.”