As part of an approved US$7 billion package, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disbursed the second tranche of US$1.02 billion to Pakistan, announced the country’s State Bank of Pakistan on social media platform X. The total IMF disbursements to India’s neighbour, which began on September 25, 2024 under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, now stand at US$2.1 billion.
The funds, which are to be disbursed over a 37-month period, will be reflected in SBP’s foreign exchange reserves for the week ending May 16, according to a Reuters report on Wednesday.
The disbursement follows the IMF Executive Board’s review meeting on May 9, during which it also approved Pakistan’s request for an additional US$1.4 billion under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The RSF aims to support climate-related reforms and strengthen disaster preparedness.
Despite India's concerns and decision to abstain from voting at the IMF board meeting, the IMF said Pakistan had shown strong implementation of reforms, pointing to a primary fiscal surplus of 2.0% of GDP in H1 FY25, headline inflation at just 0.3% in April, and rising foreign exchange reserves, which improved from US$9.4 billion in August 2024 to US$10.3 billion by April-end, with expectations to touch US$13.9 billion by June 2025.
India has repeatedly voiced concerns about Pakistan’s eligibility for further bailouts, saying that Islamabad remains a long-standing IMF borrower with a history of poor compliance, and warned that the growing scale of financial support has rendered Pakistan a "too big to fail debtor" for the Fund.
The IMF’s Executive Board, composed of 25 Directors, allocates voting power based on the economic weight of member countries. The United States holds the largest share at 16.49%, while India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka jointly hold a 3.05% share.
Follow us
