State Bank of Pakistan receives 2nd tranche of $1 bln from IMF
Islamabad, May 14 (UNI) The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received the second tranche of 1.023 billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the ongoing Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.
'SBP has received the second tranche of SDR 760 million (USD 1,023 billion) from the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility programme,' the central bank announced in a statement, according to Dunya News. The amount will be recorded in the SBP's foreign exchange reserves for the week ending May 16, 2025.
The IMF's Executive Board had formally approved a one billion dollars disbursement last week for Pakistan under the EFF, marking a significant step in the country's ongoing economic stabilisation efforts.
The disbursement of funds follows the IMF Executive Board's completion of the first review of Pakistan's reform programme, which cleared the release of the funds. This brings the total disbursements under the seven billion dollars EFF arrangement to approximately 2.1 billion dollars (SDR 1.52 billion).
The immediate release of funds is expected to provide a crucial support to Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves, ease fiscal pressure, and help maintain economic momentum amid ongoing global financial uncertainty.
Alongside this approval, the IMF Board also sanctioned a new agreement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), granting Pakistan access to an additional 1.4 billion dollars (SDR 1 billion). The RSF is designed to help Pakistan strengthen its resilience against climate-related vulnerabilities and natural disasters, reports Pakistan Today.
Meanwhile, budget talks between the global lender and Pakistan's government are set to begin today. Originally scheduled to be held in-person, the talks will now take place virtually as the IMF delegation could not reach Pakistan as planned.
As per Dunya News, the online negotiations will focus on budget preparation, with proposals to be shared with the IMF during these discussions. The economic team from Pakistan has completed its briefing preparations, and officials from the Ministry of Finance and FBR will lead the virtual talks, which will continue until May 16.
The talks will focus on income and expenditure, with Pakistan briefing the IMF on tax and non-tax revenues. Special sessions will be held to persuade the IMF to ease the tax burden on the already strained salaried class.
UNI ANV SS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
PM Modi participates in business meeting in Cyprus to boost bilateral ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday participated in a business roundtable here with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and called for strengthening bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade, investment and defence. The prime minister, who arrived here earlier in the day, addressed business leaders from India and Cyprus at the meeting. "Further cementing investment, technology & business linkages," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X, attaching pictures from the event. "PM @narendramodi accompanied by President @Christodulides addressed a business roundtable, which saw participation by leading business leaders of Cyprus and Indian companies," he said. "The leaders called for strengthening economic ties in the fields of trade, investment, financial services, fintech, start-up, innovation, AI, IT, logistics, defence, connectivity, shipping and mobility," he added. In a video message on X ahead of the meeting, Jaiswal said that at the forum, "ideas about how to strengthen India-Cyprus business partnership in newer areas of engagement such as startup, innovation, digital payments, shipping, shipbuilding, ports etc will be identified, talked about, and discussed." Modi's two-day visit to Cyprus is the first by an Indian prime minister in over two decades. Upon his arrival, he was welcomed at the Larnaca International Airport by Christodoulides in a special gesture. During the visit, the two leaders will also hold talks to strengthen bilateral ties. Modi's visit will "reaffirm the shared commitment of the two countries to deepen bilateral ties and strengthen India's engagement with the Mediterranean region and the European Union," according to a statement by the MEA. Bilateral trade between India and Cyprus has remained "steady amidst fluctuations" over recent years, and was USD 136.96 million for April 2023-March 2024, according to the MEA.
India.com
2 hours ago
- India.com
Big blow to BCCI's staff members ahead of England series as Indian Cricket Board decides to...
BCCI. (PIC - X) New Delhi: The stage is set for the upcoming 5-match Test series between India and England. This high-voltage series will begin with the first match at Headingley on June 20. Both the teams as well as cricket fans are eager to enjoy the thrill. Before this series, BCCI had taken a big decision. Actually, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has made changes in the daily allowances and travel policy for its employees. Under these changes, employees will now get a new daily allowance policy and some old allowances have been removed. BCCI took this big decision: BCCI has made significant changes in the daily allowances and travel policy for its employees. Under the old policy, employees used to get a daily allowance of Rs 15000 per day for short-term travel (up to four days) and Rs 10000 per day for long-term travel (such as related to IPL, WPL, or ICC events in India). Apart from this, a contingency allowance of Rs 7500 was also given. According to the new policy, the contingency allowance has been removed. Now employees will get a uniform daily allowance of Rs 10000 per day during travel. According to a BCCI source, the effective daily allowance after tax deduction will be around Rs 6,500 per day. Dues will be paid soon: Since the policy had to be changed, BCCI employees, including finance, operations and media departments, were not paid their daily allowances for IPL and WPL. However, now that the policy is ready, their dues will be paid soon. Regarding this, the source said, 'A clear policy was needed in the matter of allowances as some employees were claiming allowances despite working from Mumbai headquarters during the tournament. Now that the policy is ready, the dues will be paid soon.' Allowance will be given according to travel! IPL lasts for more than two months and ICC events also last for at least a month. In such a situation, if an employee is travelling for the entire 70 days for IPL, then he will be eligible to claim a total of Rs 7 lakh at the rate of Rs 10,000 per day. On the other hand, employees whose travel is limited during IPL will be eligible to claim only 60% of the 70-day allowance and employees who do not travel at all (such as those working in Mumbai headquarters) can claim only 40% of the 70-day allowance. How much is paid for foreign travel? Most BCCI employees are paid USD 300 per day for foreign tours. Honorary office bearers, including the president, secretary, treasurer, vice-president and joint secretary, receive a daily allowance of USD 1000 per day on foreign tours. Office bearers are paid Rs 40,000 for a one-day meeting within India and Rs 30,000 per day for a multi-day domestic work trip.
The Print
3 hours ago
- The Print
Israel-Iran Tensions: Puri says India has adequate energy supplies
'India's energy strategy is shaped by successfully navigating the trilemma of energy availability, affordability and sustainability,' he said. 'We have adequate energy supplies for the coming months.' Global oil prices have jumped to their highest level since January after Israel struck Iran, in a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East. In a post on X, the minister said he held a periodic review of energy availability scenario with the captains of the Indian oil industry. New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) India, the world's third-largest oil importer and fourth biggest gas buyer, has enough energy supplies for the coming months, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said amid escalating tensions in the globe's biggest energy supply regions. The rate of the benchmark Brent crude was up by more than 10 per cent shortly after the news emerged, but eased a little. Brent was trading close to USD 75 a barrel, up more than 5 per cent over Thursday's close. India imports more than 85 per cent of its crude oil needs and roughly half of its natural gas requirement. More than 40 per cent of the oil imports and half of the gas imports come from the Middle East. Despite the spike on Friday, oil prices are still more than 10 per cent lower than where they were at the same point last year. They are also well below over USD 100 a barrel rate seen in early 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia is India's largest supplier of crude oil, which is refined into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries. Qatar is India's biggest supplier of natural gas, which is used to make fertilisers, generate electricity and turned into CNG to run automobiles and piped to household kitchens for cooking. PTI ANZ BAL SHW This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
