The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday said that its executive board approved funding for Pakistan after the country “met all the targets” under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, adding that the loan programme for Islamabad was only for stabilisation of foreign exchange reserves and not related to the budget financing.

Despite Indian attempts to derail Pakistan’s loan programme, the IMF approved the immediate disbursement of about $1 billion to Pakistan under the ongoing EFF and allowed an additional arrangement for the $1.4bn Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

During a press briefing in Washington D.C., IMF Director of the Communications Department, Julie Kozack, said, “Our Board found that Pakistan had indeed met all of the targets. It had made progress on some of the reforms, and for that reason, the Board went ahead and approved the programme.”

An Indian journalist asked the spokesperson on the recent bailout package by IMF to Pakistan, saying “the Indian government has expressed a lot of displeasure with Pakistan planning to use this package to build—rebuild—areas that allegedly support cross-border terrorism.” She also asked a question related to the “majority vote that was received in approving this bailout package for Pakistan on May 9.”

Another journalist asked about the implications of the escalation between Pakistan and India on both economies, while another questioned what “safeguards the IMF has that its funds won’t be used for military or in support of military actions.” The journalist also asked about the controversy about the........

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