Pakistan Moves Closer to Vital IMF Deal With Last-Ditch Steps
- Dollar bonds, stocks rally after optimism grows for a deal
- Nation faces $23 billion of external debt payments from July
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Pakistan’s race to restart a stalled International Monetary Fund loan program took a positive turn as the country made a dramatic final attempt to appease the lender less than a week before the facility ends.
After days of talks with the IMF, the South Asian nation agreed to change its budget for the next fiscal year, pledging to raise taxes and cut expenses in a bid to cut its fiscal deficit. The fund had earlier raised objections to Pakistan’s spending plan, saying it was insufficient to meet the conditions of the bailout. The nation’s dollar bonds, local stocks rallied while the rupee was little changed.