Photo: Collected
Pakistan secures a new $7 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). To get the new IMF loan, announced Friday (12 July), Sharif's government forced through a series of unpopular reforms, including record-high taxes and increased energy prices, to meet IMF conditions, standard practice that has often triggered public backlash.
"The new program aims to support the authorities' efforts to cement macroeconomic stability and create conditions for a stronger, more inclusive, and resilient growth," the IMF said in a statement.
The new deal will be Pakistan's 25th since independence, comes as the country faces loan repayments of about $24 billion this fiscal year, which started July 1.
The staff-level agreement will need to be approved by the IMF's executive board, which is almost always a formality, before the funds can be released. No date has been set for the board vote.
Pakistan has moved from one loan program to another amid chronic economic crisis, completing its last IMF program of about $3 billion in April.
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