Pakistan strikes $3bn IMF bailout deal 

Pakistan has struck a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $3bn of funding. The deal still needs to be approved by the global lender’s board. 

Pakistan is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1947. The country’s economy has been struggling after years of mismanagement and then the global energy crisis and the deadly flooding that hit the country last year. 

To help secure the deal, the South Asian nation’s central bank raised its main interest rate to a record high of 22% on Monday. 

“The economy has faced several external shocks such as the catastrophic floods in 2022 that impacted the lives of millions of Pakistanis and an international commodity price spike in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine,” Nathan Porter, IMF’s mission chief for Pakistan said.

“As a result of these shocks as well as some policy missteps… economic growth has stalled,” he added.