ISLAMABAD, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Pakistani authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the first review under Pakistan’s Stand-By Arrangement, the IMF said.
The agreement on the first review of the nine-month arrangement is subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board, the IMF said in a statement on Wednesday.
Upon approval, 700 million U.S. dollars will become available to the South Asian country, bringing total disbursements under the program to almost 1.9 billion dollars, the statement said.
“The agreement supports the authorities’ commitment to advance the planned fiscal consolidation, accelerate cost-reducing reforms in the energy sector, complete the return to a market-determined exchange rate, and pursue state-owned enterprise and governance reforms to attract investment and support job creation while continuing to strengthen social assistance,” the IMF said. ■
