The board of the International Monetary Fund will meet on September 25 to discuss the $7 billion programme agreed in July with Pakistan, an IMF spokesperson said on Thursday.

“The board meeting is scheduled to take place on September 25 and this is following Pakistan obtaining necessary financing assurances from its development partners,” IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said in a scheduled press briefing.

Pakistan and the IMF reached an agreement on the 37-month loan programme in July. The IMF said the programme is subject to approval from its executive board and obtaining “timely confirmation of necessary financing assurances from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners”.

The South Asian country has also taken loans from commercial banks, foreign lenders, and friendly countries to improve the economy.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said earlier on Thursday that “friendly” countries have helped Pakistan meet requirements necessary to secure an IMF bailout.

He said he would not provide further details on the assistance at this moment. Pakistani officials had said they were trying to arrange up to $2 billion to meet a financing gap, and were in discussions with commercial banks for this.

Islamabad has for years relied on China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for financial assistance to meet external financing requirements and avoid sovereign default, which it came close to last summer.

Last month, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told reporters that Pakistan has secured commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to roll over debt for a year.

Pakistan’s sovereign dollar bonds rallied on Thursday afternoon, with the 2031 maturity trading 1 cent higher to bid at 79.93 cents on the dollar, according to Tradeweb data.

Moreover, the State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $30 million to $9.47 billion in the week ending Sept 6, the central bank said.

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Earlier this week, the finance ministry told the National Assembly that the country secured $57.27 billion in external loans, which are separate from the International Monetary Fund programme, over the last five years.

Of this amount, $9.81 billion was obtained for “various projects.” Moreover, $3.9 billion has been repaid in interest or markup on these external loans.

While reacting to the development, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that all matters regarding the IMF agreement have been successfully resolved. He expressed gratitude to the prime minister’s team, the IMF negotiating team, and the relevant institutions that played a “key role” in the final stages of the negotiations.

The finance minister stated that the issues would be finalised at the upcoming meeting of the IMF board this month. He emphasised that the economy was on a “path to recovery and growth following stabilisation.” The reduction in the policy rate was expected to boost investment and business activities in the country, leading to increased economic activity and job creation.

Furthermore, he noted that the ongoing trend of decreasing inflation rates is beginning to provide relief to the people.