Islamabad, May 12 (PTI) Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has expressed optimism that Pakistan would not default on its external repayments despite facing an acute balance of payments crisis with no sign of receiving the IMF bailout anytime soon, a media report said on Friday.

Speaking at a session on the country's economic challenges during an event titled ‘Islamabad Security Dialogue-2023' on Thursday, Dar reiterated that “Pakistan has fulfilled all the IMF conditions [for the revival of its loan programme]", The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

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"The government took steps to meet those conditions. It has ensured its external repayments till December,” Dar was quoted as saying.

The statement came after the IMF said that Pakistan needs significant additional financing for the successful completion of the long-stalled ninth review bailout package, the report said.

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Commenting on a recent report by a global credit rating agency that Pakistan might default on its external repayments, the finance minister said if the IMF sought more time to reach a staff-level agreement with the country, it could proceed ahead with it.

He said that Pakistan had arranged funds to pay off its external repayments to the tune of USD 3.2 billion in May and June on time and that the friendly countries would soon fulfill their pledges to finance the crisis-struck country, the report said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar have repeatedly claimed that Pakistan met all the prior conditions agreed for reaching a staff-level agreement and there was no reason for holding back the agreement.

Last week the IMF rejected the Pakistan government's claim that it has met all the conditions to reach an agreement with the global financial body to release funds under an already agreed loan facility.

"Our team is very heavily engaged of course with the Pakistani authorities, because Pakistan indeed faces a very challenging situation," Julie Kozack, IMF spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

She added that the large South Asian economy was facing stagflation and had also been battered by a series of shocks including severe floods.

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and China came to Pakistan's assistance in March and April with pledges that would cover some of the funding deficit.

A staff-level accord to release a USD 1.1 billion tranche out of a USD 6.5 billion IMF package has been delayed since November, with nearly 100 days gone since the last staff-level mission to Pakistan. That is the longest such gap since at least 2008.

The Washington-based global lender signed a deal in 2019 to provide USD 6 billion to Pakistan on fulfilment of certain conditions.

The plan was derailed several times and the full reimbursement is still pending due to insistence by the donor that Pakistan should complete all formalities.

The State Bank of Pakistan has about USD 4.5 billion in foreign exchange reserves, barely enough to cover one month's imports.

Exports are on the decline, while foreign direct investment also dropped during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

Pakistan, currently in the throes of a major economic crisis, is grappling with high external debt, a weak local currency and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)