By Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday he was hopeful that $3 billion short-term bailout from the International Monetary Fund would be approved by the multilateral lender’s board when it meets on July 12.
After eight months of negotiations, both the sides signed a staff-level agreement on Friday for the bailout, to avert a imminent default on sovereign debt.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said Pakistan stands to receive a first installment of $1.1 billion, but the IMF board’s approval of the agreement is needed before funds can be disbursed.
“The agreement will go through, God willing,” Sharif said during a ceremony in Islamabad.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Writing by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Simon Cameron-Moore)