The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released its schedule of meetings up to September 4, with Pakistan missing from the list once again.
Despite this, the Finance Ministry remains optimistic about securing approval for the $7 billion bailout package from the IMF in September.
According to sources, the government is actively working to secure a rollover of $12 billion in debt from China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Additionally, Pakistan has reportedly requested another $1.2 billion loan from Saudi Arabia to cover a $2 billion financing gap. Pakistan already holds $5 billion in cash deposits from Saudi Arabia, $4 billion from China, and $3 billion from the UAE.
Moreover, Pakistan faces an additional commercial debt burden of $4.5 billion, including obligations to China.
On August 23, Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb had said that the IMF Executive Board would approve the new loan program in September. Speaking to media in Islamabad, he had mentioned that discussions were ongoing with the IMF every second day, and China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates had also given a positive response. He added that the friendly countries would take the international lender into confidence through executive directors.
The minister went on to say that Pakistan needed external financing of $2 billion for the current fiscal year and $3 billion during the next 37 months.
