The International Monetary Fund (IMF) sent a group of people to Pakistan to talk about a new loan program.
This program would give Pakistan money over a few years to help them with their finances.
First, this initial group will meet with Pakistan’s financial team for ten days. They will discuss how much money Pakistan needs and for how long. Pakistan wants a bigger loan, somewhere between $6 billion and $8 billion over three years. They might also be able to get some extra money to fight climate change.
Second, the IMF group will also talk about Pakistan’s budget for next year. They want to make sure Pakistan spends its money wisely so the economy gets stronger. This budget should help everyone in Pakistan, not just a few people.
The IMF says it’s more important for Pakistan to fix their economy than how much money they borrow. In other words, Pakistan needs to make some changes to how they handle money so they won’t need to borrow so much in the future.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister is hopeful they can agree on the basic details of the loan program by mid-May. They’re not sure exactly how much they’ll ask for yet, but it will probably be more than $6 billion. Once they have a deal with the IMF, they might ask for even more money from another part of the IMF to make their economy even more stable.