ISLAMABAD Five weeks after reaching a staff-level agreement under a new bailout package of Extended Fund Facility (EFF), Pakistan still has not received confirmation on an external financing deficit of $3 to $5 billion.
As a result, Pakistan has not been able to submit a Letter of Intent (LoI) to formally seek that the IMF’s executive board approve $7 billion as part of the EFF program.
The government’s signature on the letter of intent (LoI) will be provided by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (BSP). The LoI will be sent to the IMF’s executive board along with a request for approval of $7 billion under the 37-month EFF program.The need for outside funding has once more emerged as a significant roadblock to obtaining a new IMF bailout package. The Executive Board’s scheduled agenda items have been published by the IMF, and Pakistan was left off of the list of nations for which the IMF Board will consider approving loans until August 28, 2024.
This writer got in touch with Aurangzeb to inquire about the signing of the letter of intent and the IMF executive board’s decision to approve Pakistan’s $7 billion package request. “We are making good progress towards getting the board approval in September,” he responded succinctly.
