Pakistan hopes to secure new IMF loan as quickly as possible: Aurangzeb
Business
Says, "We are looking for larger loan. We will need a two to three year time period
WASHINGTON (Web Desk) – Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Monday he would hold talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during his visit to Washington and hoped to get a new loan agreement in place as soon as possible, Reuters reported.
Pakistan and the IMF last month reached a staff-level agreement on the second and last review of its current $3 billion stand-by arrangement which, if cleared by the global lender's board, will release about $1.1 billion to the struggling South Asian nation.
That arrangement runs out in late April and the country needs more funding to avoid a balance of payment crisis.
"The purpose is to agree the strategies with the fund, and get the EEF (Extended Fund Facility) in place as quickly as possible," Aurangzeb said at an event at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, where the IMF World Bank Spring Meetings was getting underway.
"We are looking for larger loan. We will need a two to three year time period, so that we can actually go through the structural reforms," he said, declining to give further details.
Also on Monday, the government increased the petrol and high-speed diesel prices by Rs4.53 and Rs8.14 per litre respectively for the next fortnight, as the IMF wants Pakistan to slash subsidies as part of a lengthy agenda to reduce budget deficit.
Read more: Pakistan to seek additional IMF climate financing as well
Earlier, it was reported that Pakistan will seek assistance from the IMF under two heads – EFF and additional climate financing – as the finance minister is in Washington to hold talks with the world’s top lender for a new bigger and longer programme, sources say.
The sources in finance ministry say the finance minister will submit the two applications for financial assistance during the talks to be held next after the completion of the annual spring meetings of IMF and World Bank.
