IMF approves 1.2 billion dollar aid for Pakistan - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

In an effort to bail out Pakistan's sluggish economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved an aid of 1.2 billion dollars for the troubled country. "It is of course important that Pakistan has full support from donors because they've had shocks to their economy over the past year," Carline Atkinson, IMF's Director for External Affairs, told a briefing here. An official at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington said that the whole amount would be deposited in Pakistan's foreign exchange reserve by Friday. The IMF expects Pakistan to bring its fiscal deficit down to 4.9 per cent by the end of the current financial year. In its review, the fund also concluded that Pakistan was on track for meeting its revenue improvement targets. This is not the first time that the IMF has come to Pakistan's rescue. In 2008 the international authority had helped it to avert a balance of payments crisis. Last month, the IMF had pointed out that Pakistan's economy was showing signs of recovery, however, it underlined that risks were still there.