Pakistan has successfully obtained commitments for debt rollovers from China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the duration of one year.

Last month, Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new $7 billion loan program. However, to receive final approval from the IMF board for the new bailout, Pakistan needed financing commitments from bilateral donors.

According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, "Pakistan has secured commitments from China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to roll over debt for a year." The report noted that Pakistan has $12 billion in bilateral loans that have been extended over the past few years.

Addressing an event in Islamabad on Tuesday, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed optimism, stating, “We are quite hopeful that the staff-level agreement will be converted into a board approval by the end of the month.” Bloomberg quoted Aurangzeb as saying that the amount of rollovers would remain the same as the previous year.

Aurangzeb also mentioned that the current Pakistani government expects to manage a $5 billion financing gap during the IMF’s three-year program. He believed that Pakistan is on the right track with a stable currency.

In July, Pakistan and the IMF reached an agreement for a 37-month loan program. Pakistan has long relied on IMF programs, at times nearing sovereign default and having to seek financial assistance from countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia to meet external financing targets set by the IMF.

The IMF, in its statement following the staff-level agreement with Islamabad, indicated that the new Extended Fund Facility program was subject to approval from its executive board and obtaining “timely confirmation of necessary financing assurances from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners.”