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IMF mission to meet Pak officials next week to discuss economic trajectory

An IMF mission will meet authorities of cash-strapped Pakistan next week to hold discussions for laying the foundation for "better governance" and "stronger economic growth", an official said on Sunday. Last month Pakistan completed a short-term USD 3 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which bailed the country out of any default. On Friday, an advance team of the Washington-based global lender reached the cash-strapped country to hold talks after Islamabad requested a longer and larger bailout package. A mission team led by Nathan Porter, IMF's mission chief to Pakistan, will meet with authorities next week to discuss the next phase of engagement," said Esther Perez Ruiz, IMF's resident representative for Pakistan. The aim is to lay the foundation for better governance and stronger, more inclusive, and resilient economic growth that will benefit all Pakistanis, the Dawn newspaper quoted her as saying. Pakistan has sought the next bailout package in the r

The ominous shadow of global debt

The IMF's latest reports warn that piecemeal solutions won't suffice anymore

Pak finance ministry sees inflation at 18.5%-19.5% in April, easing in May

Gross domestic product growth for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending in June is estimated at 1% and expected to improve in the second half of the fiscal year, it said in its monthly report

IMF approves immediate disbursal of $1.1 billion loan tranche to Pakistan

The International Monetary Fund has approved an immediate disbursal of USD 1.1 billion to Pakistan as part of a bailout package and said the country needs to take tough measures to bring its economy back on track. A decision in this regard was taken by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board as it completed the second and final review of Pakistan's economic reform programme supported by the IMF's Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). With this development, the disbursements under the SBA reached around USD 3 billion. IMF's Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Sayeh said, "Given the significant challenges ahead, Pakistan should capitalize on this hard-won stability, persevering -- beyond the current arrangement -- with sound macroeconomic policies and structural reforms to create stronger, inclusive, and sustainable growth." Continued external support will also be critical, she said. Achieving strong, long-term inclusive growth and creating jobs require accelerating structural .

IMF boosts Asia's growth forecast to 4.5% this year on China, India

The latest data has taken into account the higher forecast for India published earlier this month and China's pace, on the back of expectations that government stimulus will boost growth

Pak PM Sharif discusses new loan programme with IMF chief Georgieva

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has met IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and discussed a new loan programme for the cash-strapped country to put the economy back on track. In a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Meeting in Riyadh, the premier thanked Georgieva, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, for her support to Pakistan in securing the USD 3 billion standby arrangement (SBA) from IMF last year that was now nearing its completion. Pakistan secured the USD 3 billion IMF programme in June last year, which helped it avert a sovereign default. Pakistan is seeking a new long-term Extended Fund Facility (EFF) after the current SBA expires this month. Both sides also discussed Pakistan entering into another IMF program to ensure that the gains made in the past year were consolidated and its economic growth trajectory remained positive, according to a statement issued by the PM Office on Sunday. Sharif reiterated his government'

Sri Lanka approves IMF-backed law to seize any proceeds from crimes

The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) will allow for the judicial freezing and forfeiture of proceeds of crime and establishes a new authority to manage such seized assets

Pakistan eyes news IMF loan by early July: Finance Minister Aurangzeb

The country's current $3 billion arrangement with the fund -- which it secured last summer to avert a sovereign default -- runs out in late April

IMF team to visit Pak in May to negotiate new bailout package: Aurangzeb

Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that an IMF team is expected to visit Islamabad next month to negotiate a new long-term bailout package to secure a staff-level agreement for the cash-strapped country by mid-July. Speaking to the media after his week-long visit to Washington, the minister said the contours of the new International Monetary Fund programme will shape up later. "We will start getting into the granularity of the programme by mid-May, Dawn News quoted Aurangzeb as saying on Saturday. Cash-strapped Pakistan has made a formal request to the IMF to seek the next bailout package in the range of USD 6 to USD 8 billion with the possibility of augmentation through climate financing. Addressing journalists at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, Aurangzeb expressed the hope that the global lender's board of governors would convene to consider the last tranche of the current programme by the end of this month, with the final instalment released shortly ...

World Bank, IMF meetings conclude without concrete plan on climate finance

The annual World Bank and IMF meetings have wrapped up without a concrete plan to mobilise the trillions of dollars needed to fight climate change, in a year where agreement on New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) or a new climate finance goal will be the key issue at the United Nations climate conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan. NCQG is the new amount developed countries must mobilise every year from 2025 onwards to support climate action in developing countries. Rich countries are expected to raise more than the USD 100 billion they promised to provide every year from 2020, but repeatedly failed. A recent analysis revealed that financial flows into developing countries turned negative in 2023, with these nations paying out more in debt servicing than they received in external financing. Discussions between G7 and G20 finance ministers on the sidelines of the spring meetings that wrapped up on Saturday touched on providing finance to developing countries for meeting climate and ...

IMF revises down West Asia growth outlook on war, trade disruptions

The downward revision was driven by conflicts in Sudan, the West Bank and Gaza, as well as oil production cuts by Gulf countries weighing on activity

IMF ready to support Sri Lanka's discussions with int'l bondholders

Sri Lanka will consult with the IMF to assess if the latest proposals discussed with bondholders were within the parameters of its bailout program

IMF raises India's GDP growth forecast by 30 bps to 6.8% for FY25

Also sees world economy growing faster at 3.2% in 2024

IMF raises India's economic growth projection to 6.8% from 6.5% in 2024

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised India's growth projection to 6.8 per cent from its January forecast of 6.5 per cent citing bullish domestic demand conditions and a rising working-age population. With this, India continues to be the fastest growing economy of the world, ahead of China's growth projection of 4.6 per cent during the same period. "Growth in India is projected to remain strong at 6.8 per cent in 2024 and 6.5 per cent in 2025, with the robustness reflecting continuing strength in domestic demand and a rising working-age population," said the latest edition of the World Economic Outlook released by the IMF ahead of the annual spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. At the same time, growth in emerging and developing Asia is expected to fall from an estimated 5.6 per cent in 2023 to 5.2 per cent in 2024 and 4.9 per cent in 2025, a slight upward revision compared with the January 2024 WEO Update. IMF in its January update had projected 6.5 per cent

Pak needs up to three years for reforms suggested by IMF: Finance chief

Pakistan rebuilt trust with the IMF through the completion of its nine-month loan where an agreement was reached in March for the final disbursement, he said

Climate spending may make emerging nations with high debt insolvent: Report

A further 19 developing countries lack the liquidity to meet the spending targets without help, though they would not approach default thresholds

State Bank of Pakistan repays $1 bn in Eurobonds ahead of IMF bailout

The State Bank of Pakistan has repaid USD 1 billion in Eurobonds as the cash-strapped country prepares for a new long-term bailout from the IMF to help manage its external financing needs and economic recovery, a media report said here on Sunday. Pakistan's central bank announced that it met the dollar bond payment on Friday for the 10-year bond launched in 2014 maturing this month. Ahead of the April 15-20 meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington DC, Pakistan government has decided to formally approach the IMF for a medium-term Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the possibility of augmenting through climate finance. The Eurobonds repayment comes amid Asian Development Bank's (ADB) apprehension that Pakistan's economic outlook remains uncertain. The SBP has successfully executed the repayment of USD 1 billion Pakistan's International Bond on April 12, 2024 (principal plus interest). The payment was made to the agent bank for onward distribut

Janet Yellen likely to reiterate warnings over China's manufacturing power

With its dominant voice in all of those forums, the US is expected to try to align other countries across Europe, Asia and Latin America to voice concerns over China's output and exports

IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva wins second term ahead of Spring meetings

Georgieva, 70, led IMF's efforts to aid indebted countries through pandemic and has warned about the global economic impact of trade fragmentation caused by worsening US-China relations

Cyber risk to stability

Financial regulators need to be vigilant