Army Chief seeks US help to accelerate IMF loan deal

July 29, 2022 (MLN): Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa asked the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman for help in securing an early loan dispersal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nikkei Asia reports, quoted by Bloomberg.

Both leaders spoke on phone this week, citing unidentified officials in Islamabad and Washington.

As per Bloomberg's latest report. Pakistani and the US officials met but the lack of progress spurred Army Chief to seek Washington's help, Nikkei reported.

To recall, the IMF team, led by Nathan Porter had reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the Pakistan authorities for the conclusion of the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF)-supported program.

After the approval of IMF’s Executive Board, the country will receive $1.177 billion, bringing total disbursements under the program to about $4.2bn.

This staff-level agreement will help to stabilize the macroeconomic situation in the country and accelerate structural reforms.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) and bonds are sinking owing to the gloomy macros i.e, deteriorating current account balance, melting foreign exchange reserves, and chaos amongst importers, financing woes and political unrest. Yesterday, the local unit had closed interbank trade at 239.04 per US dollar.

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