This came after three days of continuous depreciation where the rupee nosedived against the US currency as the deal with the International Monetary Fund drags on. The rupee closed at a record low of 285.09, down 6.66% per US dollar in the interbank market. The country’s international bonds fell by more than three cents on the dollar.

But, the update from Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan was about to conclude the negotiations with the international lender.

“Our negotiations with IMF are about to conclude and we expect to sign Staff Level Agreement with IMF by next week,” he said in a series of tweets on Thursday.

All economic indicators were slowly moving in the right direction, he claimed and slammed anti-Pakistan elements for spreading “malicious rumours” that Pakistan may default.

“This is not only completely false but also belie the facts. SBP forex reserves have been increasing and are almost $1 billion higher than four weeks ago despite making all external,” Dar said.

The State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $3.814 billion as of Thursday, the state bank said in a statement, up from the previous week.

“During the week ended on 24-Feb-2023, SBP received $700 million as GoP commercial loan disbursement from China. After accounting for external debt repayments, SBP reserves increased by $556 million to $3,814.1 million,” it said.

The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $9.3 billion, the bank said.

Pakistan would 100% complete the IMF programme as neither the lender nor the US wants the country to get out of it, economic expert Dr Shahid Hasan Siddiqui told Aaj News on Thursday.

The government was not taking structural reforms—an old demand of the IMF to bring Pakistan’s economy on track, he added.