The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has now requested Pakistan to arrange $8 billion in new loans to support external debt repayments over the next seven months in order to ensure that the long-stalled ninth review bailout package is successfully completed, despite receiving confirmation from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Over 100 days have passed since the last staff deployment to Pakistan, and a staff-level decision to deliver a $1.1 billion tranche of a $6.5 billion IMF package has been delayed since November.
To secure debt repayments from May to December 2023, the IMF has reportedly asked Pakistan to arrange $8.4 billion in fresh loans.