Pakistan's central bank meets $4.2 billion forward book target with IMF: Report

Pakistan's central bank has met a forward book target of $4.2 billion agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the end of September and is comfortably placed to meet others such as net international reserves and net domestic assets, the bank said as quoted by Reuters. 

The remarks came in a statement on comments by central bank chief Jameel Ahmad during events on the sidelines of the meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank meetings in Morocco. 

The Washington-based financial body will also send its delegation to cash-strapped Pakistan to review the country's economic performance in the first three months of the current fiscal year, PTI had earlier reported. 

The report said once the economic review is successfully completed, Pakistan will receive the next installment of USD 700 million from the IMF after its board's approval.

The Washington-based global lender transferred USD 1.2 billion to the cash-strapped country in July, as part of the USD 3 billion bailout program for nine months to support the government’s efforts to stabilize the country's ailing economy, PTI reported.

Although essentially a bridge loan, it offered much respite to Pakistan, which was battling an acute balance of payments crisis and falling foreign exchange reserves, the report said.

Pakistan’s economy has been in a free fall mode for the last many years, bringing untold pressure on the poor masses in the form of unchecked inflation.

The country's inflation rose for the first time in four months after the government raised fuel prices to meet the IMF's conditions for an ongoing $3 billion bailout program. 

Consumer prices jumped 31.44% in September from a year earlier. The reading exceeds the median estimate for a 30.95% increase in a Bloomberg survey and 27.4% notched in August.

Pakistan's caretaker government raised fuel costs on surging global prices and plans to hike gas prices as part of IMF conditions to continue a bailout program that started in July. The moves are likely to increase living costs and may spark protests again among Pakistanis who are feeling the pinch.