Updated on
Summary Government looking to pay back IMF loans by taking another loan from the agency.
Federal Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh would be meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials today with respect to a stand-by programme kept for the assistance of Pakistan. He would be looking to collect two outstanding instalments of the stand-by programme which amount to $ 3.3 billion.According to source, the government will seek to cover Pakistans budget deficit with outstanding amount while on the other hand, they will prepare to return the IMF loans. The government would be looking to pay back the IMF loans by taking another loan from the IMF. Returning the loans to the IMF will further burden the country’s foreign exchange reserves, the sources said.In contrast, if the loan is not approved for Pakistan, then the government would have to take a loan from the State Bank of Pakistan to meet the budget expenditure.If the talks are successful, then the government would take back the subsidy imposed on electricity.
