The International Monetary Fund board has approved the revival of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced in a tweet on Monday.

“I want to thank Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for taking so many tough decisions and saving Pakistan from default,” the finance minister said.

He said that following the revival of the programme, Pakistan should now be getting the 7th & 8th tranches of $1.17 billion.

According to sources in the Ministry of Finance, Pakistan is likely to receive the loan from the IMF within this week. An agreement has also been reached between both sides over the letter of intent, they added.

Earlier this month, Pakistan received the letter of intent (the document outlining the general plans of an agreement) from the IMF.

The document is key to Pakistan getting its loan, sources added. Now Pakistan needs to sign off on it and dispatch it to the global lender, they continued.

Sources said that the government has completed most of the prior conditions, including raising electricity prices and taxes.

The global lender’s representative to Pakistan, Esther Perez, told Aaj News earlier this month that Pakistan has met the last requirement of the IMF for the combined seventh and eighth review of the $6 billion loan, with an increase in its petroleum development levy on July 31.

Petroleum levy to be increased by Rs50 per litre

The Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) would be increased by Rs50 till January 2023. This is what Pakistan has promised to the IMF after reaching a consensus on the letter of intent.

PDL of around Rs10 on petrol and Rs5 on diesel would be increased on September 1, sources told Aaj News, adding that that the levy will be increased by another Rs5.5 per litre in the coming months and by January 2023, the rate of levy will increase to Rs50 per litre on petrol and diesel.