After UAE guarantee, Pakistan expects 2nd tranche of IMF package this week

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan is expected to receive the second tranche of a $3 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the loaning agency's Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday.

"I expect an agreement of the review to come within this week,” Georgieva told Bloomberg Television in an interview.

The confirmation came following a guarantee from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to assist cash-strapped Pakistan in bridging its financial gap.

A Finance Ministry official in Islamabad, wishing not to be named, told Anadolu that Pakistan is set to receive the second tranche worth $710 million "very soon" following the UAE's much-needed guarantee.

Pakistan and the IMF reached a $3 billion stand-by agreement in June this year to help shore up the South Asian country's depleting foreign reserves and contain a mounting balance of payment crisis.

The $3 billion funding is higher than the remaining $2.5 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package agreed in 2019, which expired in June.

Pakistan has already received the first tranche of $1.2 billion from the IMF in July.

Georgieva gave credit to Pakistani authorities, particularly the interim finance minister, for “a very difficult time sticking to the programme that they have.”

Citing "tax collection" as the predominant issue in the release of the second tranche, she said Pakistan currently collects 12% tax-to-GDP, which should be at least 15% to help the revenues sustain the functioning of the country's economy.