The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved financing for Pakistan in the amount of 1, 1 billion dollars, the fund said in a statement, at a time when it is holding discussions with the country about granting a new loan, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The funding is the second and final tranche of a three-billion-dollar stand-by arrangement with the IMF that Islamabad secured last summer to stave off state bankruptcy.
The approval came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif discussed a new loan program with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.
Islamabad is seeking a new, larger, long-term agreement with the fund as the current standby agreement expires this month, Reuters notes.
Pakistan's government says it has been trying to secure a loan for funds for at least three years to help achieve macroeconomic stability and implement long-delayed and painful structural reforms.