IMF okays $501 million tranche for Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board on Friday approved the seventh tranche of $501.4 million for Pakistan under the 36-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF).The completion of the sixth review and approval of seventh tranche will enable Islamabad to jack up its foreign currency reserves up to $18 billion by the end of June 2015.
While approving the fresh tranche, the IMF asked Islamabad to continue pursuing key reforms. According to an IMF statement issued on Friday, the Executive Board of the IMF completed the sixth review of Pakistan’s economic performance under a 36-month programme supported by an EFF arrangement.
The Board’s decision enables the immediate disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 360 million (about $501.4 million), bringing the total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 2.52 billion (about $3.5 billion).
On September 4, 2013, the Executive Board approved the three-year extended arrangement under the EFF in the amount of SDR 4.393 billion (about US$6.12 billion, or 425 percent of Pakistan’s quota at the IMF).