Karachi August 31 2022: Pakistan Rupee gains more than two rupee in the interbank to trade at 218 (PST 12:15) against the dollar after appreciating 1.8 rupee in yesterday trading as IMF approve release of $1.1 billion for Pakistan amid expected assistance from international donors for flood affected areas.
Dollar in the open market falls Rupee 6 to 218 against the dollar at PST 11:15.
“Pakistan is awash in suffering,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video message, as the United Nations launched an appeal for $160 million to help the South Asian nation. “The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids – the relentless impact of epochal levels of rain and flooding.”
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed today the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan. The Board’s decision allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 894 million (about US$1.1 billion), bringing total purchases for budget support under the arrangement to about US$3.9 billion.
The EFF was approved by the Executive Board on July 3, 2019 for SDR 4,268 million (about US$6 billion 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 720 million that will bring the total access under the EFF to about US$6.5 billion.
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Pakistan’s government in recent weeks has tied up at least $37 billion in international loans and investments pulling the country away from the kind of financial collapse seen in Sri Lanka, State Bank Deputy Governor says few days back in an interview.
With the completion of the upcoming IMF review and the additional assistance secured from friendly countries, FX reserves are projected to rise to exceed $16 billion during FY23, according to the IMF document.
