Pakistan’s finance minister announced on Friday that the United Arab Emirates had officially committed $1 billion in financial support, overcoming a significant obstacle to receiving a long-awaited bailout tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The lender still needs the commitment before authorising a staff-level agreement to release a $1.1 billion tranche that has been months in the making but is essential for Pakistan to release to address a severe balance of payments issue.
“The State Bank of Pakistan is now engaged for needful documentation for taking the said deposit from UAE authorities,” Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Twitter, referring to the central bank.
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday that the organisation was also in talks with countries that are friendly to Pakistan to obtain financial guarantees necessary for the programme.
