IMF wants external financing commitments fulfilled to release funds, says PM Shehbaz

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants external financing commitments fulfilled from friendly countries before it releases bailout funds, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday. The lender has been negotiating with Islamabad since early February to resume $1.1 billion in funding held since November, which is part of a $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019. The funding is very critical for Pakistan to unlock other external financing avenues to avert a default on its obligations with its central bank reserves falling to as low as to cover hardly four weeks of imports. “Now we are being told that the commitments from friendly countries be fulfilled and God willing we will,” Sharif told Parliament in a speech. Several friendly countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates, have made commitments to help Pakistan fund its balance of payments.