Shares at PSX soar after IMF’s approval of loan tranche

KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) reacted positivity to the long-anticipate approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche of $1.1 billion as the benchmark KSE-100 index rose sharply shortly after trading began on Tuesday.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index moved up 436.11 points or 1.03% to 42,940.45 points as of 9:40 am, up from yesterday’s close of 42,504.34 points.

A day earlier, the IMF’s Executive Board completed the combined 7th and 8th revi­ews of a loan facility for Pakistan, allowing immediate disbursement of $1.1bn to the country, said an official IMF announcement.

In a statement, the Fund announced that the executive board completed the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the “extended arrangement” under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan.

“The board’s decision allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 894 million (about $1.1 billion), bringing total purchases for budget support under the arrangement to about US$3.9 billion,” the statement read.