Govt fails to secure targeted loan in July

Pending approval of the $7 billion bailout by the IMF’s executive board, the government made a poor take-off and received just $436.4 million in foreign assistance and grants in July, almost 85pc lower than the same month last year. The $426m in foreign loans and $10.5m in grants in the first month of the current fiscal year appeared a non-starter when seen in the context of the mammoth $19.4bn target for the foreign assistance set for FY25 — even higher than last year’s $17.4bn target that was missed by $7.6bn. In July last year, Pakistan realised over $2.89bn mainly because of signing the 9-month $3bn Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the IMF. As a result, Pakistan secured a major injection of $2bn in time deposits from Saudi Arabia. Total inflows in July 2023 amounted to $5.1bn, including $1.2bn from the IMF and another $1bn from the UAE.