Summary Pakistan received the second tranche from IMF under the ongoing EFF on December 23.
KARACHI (Dunya News/Agencies) - Pakistan has received $554 million dollars as a second tranche of its $6.7 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an official said Tuesday.
The Washington-based lender approved the extended fund facility (EFF) in September to help the struggling nuclear-armed country achieve economic reforms, particularly in its troubled energy sector.
The IMF made an initial payment of $540 million, and in November fund officials said during a monitoring visit that Pakistan was "broadly on track" with reforms.
"Pakistan received the second tranche from IMF under the ongoing EFF on December 23," a spokesman for the State Bank of Pakistan (central bank) said in a statement.
The release of the instalment will also bolster the bank s declining foreign exchange reserves.
Cash-strapped Pakistan, plagued by a bloody homegrown Taliban insurgency, is battling to get its shaky economy back on track and solve a chronic energy crisis that cripples industry.
Announcing the approval of the funds on Thursday, the IMF s deputy managing director and acting chair Nemat Shafik warned that Pakistan must continue its reforms for the economy to recover, in particular to improve tax collection.
