The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday tied “the next step with Pakistan” to assurances of financial assistance from bilateral and other sources for the release of a bailout tranche, supercritical for the liquidity-challenged country, whose deficient foreign exchange reserves needed an urgent shoring up.
“Timely financial assistance from external partners will be critical to support the authorities’ policy efforts and ensure the successful completion of the review [with Pakistan],” said Julie Kozack, the IMF’s Director of Strategic Communications, in a press briefing.
“Ensuring that there is sufficient financing to support the authorities is the paramount priority. A staff-level agreement (SLA) will follow once the few remaining points are closed,” she said.
Pakistan and the IMF have been negotiating since early February on an agreement that would release $1.1 billion to the cash-strapped, nuclear-armed country of 220 million people.
More to follow…
