Pakistan hoping for $7bn IMF package approval in September: finance minister

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday the federal government is making good progress with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and hopes to get board approval in September for a new $7 billion loan programme. The government and the IMF reached an agreement on the 37-month loan programme in July. The IMF said the programme was subject to approval from its executive board and obtaining “timely confirmation of necessary financing assurances from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners”. “We are making good progress with IMF for Board approval in September,” Aurangzeb said in a text message to Reuters.