On Wednesday, government finance adviser Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said that Pakistan is looking for another USD1.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to assist it in handling the economic impact of coronavirus in the country.
Pakistan will also search for more support from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The country’s pledge to IMF will be a low cost, fast disbursing loan.
Previously last year, the IMF had agreed to a three-year rescue package as Pakistan struggles with a crisis in its balance-of-payments. The package last year was the 13th of IMF’s bailout program to the country since late 1980.
On a related note, on Tuesday Pakistan cut its benchmark interest rate by 150 bp to 11%, the second in a week. The country also introduced a package of measures to support the economy hit by the pandemic.
