Aurangzeb hopes Pakistan will reach a loan agreement with IMF in July

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed his hope for Pakistan to reach a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by mid-July for the next phase of the expanded loan deal.

During his week-long trip to the United States, Aurangzeb, speaking to journalists at the Pakistani embassy in Washington, stressed the importance of implementing the long-ignored economic reform agenda for fostering a healthy economy. Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Masood Khan, was also present at the event.

The minister anticipated that an IMF team would visit Pakistan by mid-May to finalize the terms of the new extended loan arrangement. “The draft of the new program will be formulated later. We will delve deeper into the specifics of the project by mid-May,” he stated.

Aurangzeb praised the current Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) as a success and expressed optimism that the final tranche of $1.1 billion would be disbursed shortly after approval by the IMF executive board, expected by the end of April. The IMF has already announced that its executive board will review Pakistan’s SBA during a meeting scheduled by the end of the month.