Pakistan repays $1 billion in Eurobonds, says central financial institution – Occasions of India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan‘s central financial institution has repaid $1 billion in Eurobondsit mentioned on Saturday, a scheduled fee forward of the South Asian nation looking for a long-term bailout from the Worldwide Financial Fund.
The bond, launched in 2014 and repaid on Friday, was maturing this month.
“The fee was made to the agent financial institution for onward distribution to the bond holders,” the central financial institution mentioned in a press release.
Islamabad has been combating a stability of funds disaster, file inflation and steep forex devaluation since an IMF Standby association averted a sovereign default.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is because of depart on Sunday for Washington to attend the IMF-World Financial institution spring assembly, the place he’ll begin negotiations for Pakistan’s twenty fourth long-term IMF bailout.
Aurangzeb briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif concerning the new IMF program on Friday, the federal government mentioned in a press release.
The IMF standby association of $3 billion Islamabad secured final summer season expired on Thursday. Its closing tranche of $1.1 billion is anticipated to be launched after the multilateral lender’s board meets later this month.
The 2 sides have spoken in latest weeks about negotiating the longer-term bailout to proceed with mandatory coverage reforms to rein in deficits, construct up reserves and handle hovering debt servicing.
Pakistan is in discussions with the IMF for a possible follow-up programme, the IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva mentioned on Thursday.