Pakistan stocks rise after IMF’s approval for emergency funds

Bloomberg

Pakistani stocks rose after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it plans to disburse about $1.4 billion in emergency financing next week to help the nation shield its economy hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
“The IMF and the Pakistani authorities are working hard for a prompt approval and disbursement” in a single installment, Teresa Daban Sanchez, IMF’s chief in Pakistan, said in a response to questions on April 8. The emergency loan will be on top of the $6 billion financial package the south Asian nation secured from the global lender last year.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index, which declined 37% last month, rose 2.5% and is poised to close at the highest since March 17. The rupee gained 0.3% to 167.25 per dollar. Pakistan’s reserves fall most in almost a year last month.
The loan will help boost the nation’s foreign exchange reserves that fell by about 13% in March, the biggest monthly drop in almost a year. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced multiple stimulus packages of more than 400 billion rupees ($2.4 billion) to counter the shocks of the pandemic that slowed down the economy. The nation’s economy will expand 0.8% in 2020 compared with earlier forecast of 2.8%, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Pakistan’s rupee has dropped 9% in about a month that makes it second worst performer in Asia this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency is under pressure as global investors have sold local currency treasury bills worth $1.7 billion after eight successive months of purchases that totalled $3.1 billion.