KARACHI: Pakistan has received about $1.3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under existing loan facilities, boosting foreign exchange reserves amid an uncertain external environment due to an ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“The IMF Executive Board completed the third review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) in its meeting held on May 8, 2026 and approved disbursement of SDR760 million for Pakistan. Furthermore, the IMF Executive Board has also approved the disbursement of the second tranche of SDR154 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF),” the State Bank of Pakistan said in the statement on Wednesday.
“Accordingly, the SBP has received SDR 914 million (equivalent to about $1.3billion) under the EFF and RSF in value on May 12, 2026 from the IMF,” it said. “The amount would be reflected in the SBP’s foreign exchange reserves for the week ending on May 15, 2026,” it added.
The SBP’s reserves stood at $15.9 billion as of April 30.Last month, the SBP also projected that its FX reserves would exceed $18 billion by the end of this fiscal year. However, the reports citing the central bank governor, Jameel Ahmad, during a session with the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue last week indicated that the reserves would likely reach over $17 billion, enough to cover three months’ worth of imports.
The latest loan disbursements from the IMF are a positive development, which will strengthen the external financing position of the country. The government plans to issue a panda bond next week.
According to the latest SBP report, the slower economic activity, amid an uncertain situation in the Gulf economies, may impact remittance inflows, which has been instrumental in financing trade deficit and supporting stability in the foreign exchange market
