Pakistan agrees on $7.6 bln IMF loan

By Sahar Ahmed

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan has agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a $7.6 billion emergency loan to stave off a balance of payments crisis and pave the way for a broader economic rescue plan.

The IMF said on Saturday its executive board was expected to meet shortly on the 23-month standby credit, after IMF staff and Pakistan agreed on a reform program.

"This support is part of a broader package that includes financing from other multilateral institutions and regional development banks," IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a statement.

The international community is concerned that an economic meltdown in the nuclear-armed state could play into the hands of al Qaeda and allied Islamist militant groups seeking to destabilize the Muslim nation of 170 million.

The eight-month-old civilian government is banking on good will toward Pakistan during its transition to democracy after more than eight years under former army chief Pervez Musharraf, who quit as president in August to avoid impeachment.

World leaders were meeting in Washington at the weekend to discuss the worst global economic turmoil since the 1930s and consider reforms to world financial institutions such as the IMF.

Shaukat Tarin, the recently appointed adviser to the prime minister, said the formalities should be concluded next week.

"We are expecting it this month," he told a news conference in Karachi when asked when the first tranche might arrive.

"We have requested IMF to give as much as they can."

The interest rate on the credit facility would vary between 3.51 and 4.51 percent with changes according to market conditions, and would be payable between fiscal 2011/12 and 2015/16, Tarin said.

The IMF did not disclose details. But it said the credit under its emergency funding facility would be tied to Pakistani economic reforms, including higher official interest rates and tighter fiscal policies, plus a well-funded social safety net to protect the poor.

Pakistan expects the World Bank and other lenders to step forward with several billion dollars of additional loans, and steadfast ally China to pitch in with $500 million. But other multilateral lenders and friendly governments were waiting for the IMF accord before acting, in order to bring some discipline to Pakistan's economic management, analysts said.

Other potential donors are gathering in Abu Dhabi on Monday for a "Friends of Pakistan" conference.

State Bank of Pakistan Governor Shamshad Akhtar said the IMF money would be used to build up the central bank's foreign currency reserves, which Tarin said should be equivalent to more than three months import cover.

The central bank's reserves stood at $3.5 billion on November 8, equivalent to just nine weeks worth of imports, and Pakistan faced defaulting on international debt obligations in February next year unless it received a multi-billion dollar infusion.