Pakistan received $8.1 billion in loans in the past six months on the back of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) stamp.  Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar said on Thursday that talks with the global lender were about to begin for an uninterrupted flow of foreign loans.           Pakistan has also secured $5 billion worth of rollovers from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), taking total external inflows to $13.1 billion, or 52% of its needs.The country received those loans in the shape of budget support, balance of payments and project financing. As a result, the gross foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank jumped to nearly $9 billion.The finance ministry remained unsuccessful in getting foreign commercial loans during the six months. The annual budget estimate of commercial loans stands at $4.5 billion.  Akhtar said that Pakistan’s debt increased sharply in the last 10 years and the country had breached the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation (FRDL) Act since 2013.    Pakistan’s former central bank governor told Reuters on Thursday that the IMF faced tough choices on how to deal with Pakistan after the February 8 general elections and how to assess the debt situation.    When the caretaker government took office in August 2023, Pakistan’s economy was in a tailspin with a free falling currency, runaway inflation and markets in turmoil, said Akhtar.Large fiscal and trade deficits over two decades weakened the debt position, with the cost of servicing debt rising to three-fourths of the FBR revenue in the last fiscal year, she added. (ICE ISLAMABAD)

Fonte notizia: arab pakistan news