Pakistan reaches new $7 billion loan deal with IMF
Associated PressPakistan has reached a staff-level agreement for a new $7 billion loan deal, the International Monetary Fund said Friday, the country’s latest turn to the global lender for help in propping up its economy and dealing with its debts through big bailouts. “The program aims to capitalize on the hard-won macroeconomic stability achieved over the past year by furthering efforts to strengthen public finances, reduce inflation, rebuild external buffers and remove economic distortions to spur private sector-led growth,” said Nathan Porter, IMF’s mission chief to Pakistan. Pakistan’s new coalition government presented its first budget in parliament last month, promising an increase of up to 25% in the salaries of government employees and setting an ambitious tax collection target. Analysts said the new budget of about $68 billion — up from $50 billion in the last fiscal year — was aimed at qualifying for a long-term IMF loan of $6 billion to $8 billion to help stabilize the economy.