Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin on Wednesday informed the National Assembly that the total loans obtained from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1958 amount to $11.406 billion. In a written replay, he informed the house that the question of Abdul Majeed Khan Khanan Khail MNA is related to the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) signed with the IMF in November 2008.
Under the SBA, the IMF agreed to provide $7.6 billion, which is 500 percent of the quota to be disbursed in 7 instalments over a period of 23 months. In the last Board meeting held on August 7, 2009 the IMF approved an augmentation of SBA by 200 percent to $3.236 billion, bringing the total financial support to the tune of about $10.854 billion and extended the period to 25 months.
Pakistan has so far received an amount of $6.379 billion in three trenches up to August 2009. The above program carries an interest rate of about 4 percent per annum of the outstanding facility amount. The IMF resources, by definition, are meant for Balance of Payments Support and as such the amount received by Pakistan is being used to finance essential imports, shore up the country's foreign exchange reserves and to finance the budgetary deficit.
As a special arrangement, IMF agreed to provide a bridge financing facility of $1.4 billion till government receives the Tokyo money. Of this, a sum of $745 million has been disbursed, he added. Responding to a query, he said no Development Financial Institution granted loan to any businessmen during 2008-2009.
About the total number of businessmen who obtained loans from banks and Development Financial Institutions in the country during 2008-09, Tarin said the State Bank of Pakistan has intimated that the collection of data through branches of commercial banks would take time. Therefore, the Finance Division may be given two months for collection of requisite data and submission of reply to the question.