Pak to get USD 506 million from IMF next month

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today said it would grant the next tranche of USD 506 million in aid to Pakistan in June after the country passed a review by the donor agency.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told a joint press conference with IMF delegation head Harald Finger that the agency was satisfied with progress of Pakistan.
"Pakistan and IMF have successfully completed 7th review of the extended fund facility paving the way for release of next tranche of USD 506 million to Pakistan by June this year," Dar said.
He said it is for the first time that Pakistan has reached the level of 7th review with IMF under any programme and Pakistan would not seek any waiver from IMF.

"We are determined to overcome the economic crisis and see the improvement in economic situation of the country," he said.
The two sides agreed that next year's budget will ensure tight fiscal policies that have already started hurting the economic growth.

In his remarks, the IMF mission head said that Pakistan would achieve 4.1 percent growth for this fiscal year ending on June 30, which is precisely 1 percent less than the official target.
The donor agency also agreed with Pakistan plan to spend Rs 130 billion on security-related expenditures over and above normal expenditure.
The mission head said that Pakistan's economic woes were not going to end any sooner and the country needed a long term development agenda to overcome chronic issues.