August 31, 2022 (MLN): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday received proceeds of $1.16 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan.
Making an announcement via its Twitter handle, the central bank said, "SBP has received theproceeds of USD 1.16 billion (equivalent of SDR 894 million) after the IMF Executive Board completed the combined seventh and eight review under EFF for Pakistan."
It will help improve SBP’s foreign exchange reserves and facilitate the realization of other planned inflows from multilateral and bilateral sources, it added.
Earlier this week, the IMF’s Executive Board approved the seventh and eighth tranche of its stalled EFF.
The Board’s decision allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 894 million (about $1.1bn), bringing total purchases for budget support under the arrangement to about $3.9bn.
The EFF was approved by the Executive Board on July 3, 2019, for SDR 4,268mn (about $6bn at the time of approval, or 210 percent of quota). In order to support program implementation and meet the higher financing needs in FY23, as well as catalyze additional financing, the IMF Board approved an extension of the EFF until end-June 2023, rephasing and augmentation of access by SDR 720mn that will bring the total access under the EFF to about $6.5bn.
The statement added that the program seeks to address domestic and external imbalances, and ensure fiscal discipline and debt sustainability while protecting social spending, safeguarding monetary and financial stability, maintaining a market-determined exchange rate, and rebuilding external buffers.
