https://arab.news/yqzda
- IMF says staff level agreement to follow financing assurances from bilateral partners like China, Saudi Arabia, UAE
- IMF funding is critical for Pakistan to unlock other external financing avenues to avert a default on its obligations
ISLAMABAD: The top United Arab Emirates diplomat in Pakistan, Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salim Al-Zaabi, held a meeting with the federal finance minister, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, on Wednesday, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pushed the South Asian nation to get external financing commitments from friendly countries before it releases bailout funds.
The lender has been negotiating with Islamabad since early February to resume $1.1 billion in funding held since November, part of a $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019.
The IMF funding is critical for Pakistan to unlock other external financing avenues to avert a default on its obligations. Its diminished central bank reserves barely cover four weeks of imports.
Speaking to reporters last week, IMF communications director Julie Kozack said a staff level agreement would follow after financing assurances from other multilateral institutions, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and bilateral partners like China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
"H.E. Mr. Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salim Al-Zaabi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates called on Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, today and exchanged views on further enhancing bilateral economic and financial relations between the two countries," the Pakistani finance ministry said in a Twitter post after the meeting.
The UAE is Pakistan’s third-largest trade partner after China and the United States and seen as an ideal export destination for Islamabad due to its geographic proximity which reduces transportation and freight costs and facilitates commercial exchanges.
The UAE has also assisted Pakistan financially in the past with deposits in the State Bank. Pakistan's primary exports to the UAE include textile products and food items.