ISLAMABAD: The country’s foreign exchange reserves have surged to $16.5 billion after receiving the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) sixth tranche of $499.049 million under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) spokesman has confirmed that the sixth tranche of the IMF program have been received by the central bank on March 31.
Last Friday, the Executive Board of the IMF completed the sixth review of Pakistan’s economic performance under a 36-month loan programme and accordingly approved the immediate disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 360 million for Pakistan.
After the payment of sixth tranche by the IMF, total disbursements under the EFF programme have surged to SDR 2.52 billion (about $3.5 billion).
With arrival of this amount, Pakistan’s total foreign exchange reserves have surged to $16.5 billion; however the received amount will be reflected in the next forex report to be issued on next Thursday.
It may be mentioned here that on September 4, 2013, the IMF Executive Board approved the three-year extended arrangement under the EFF amounting to SDR 4.393 billion (about $6.12 billion) for Pakistan.
