In an extraordinary turn of events, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) experienced a remarkable surge in its indices on the first working day following the successful conclusion of a highly anticipated $3 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The stock market halted briefly within the first 10 minutes of trading as the KSE30 index soared by an impressive 5%, causing the session to restart later at 10:37 pm.The KSE100 index, a prominent benchmark of market performance, displayed a significant upswing of 2,231.1 points to reach 43,683.78 points.On Friday, IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan on a $3 billion stand-by arrangement.The international lender said this in a statement – a decision long awaited by the country that is teetering on the brink of default.The deal, subject to approval by the IMF board in July, comes after an eight-month delay and offers some respite to Pakistan, which is battling an acute balance of payments crisis and falling foreign exchange reserves.The $3 billion funding, spread over nine months, is higher than expected for Pakistan.The country was awaiting the release of the remaining $2.5 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package agreed in 2019, which expired on Friday.The new agreement will support Pakistan’s immediate efforts to stabilize the economy from recent external shocks, preserve macroeconomic stability and provide a framework for financing from multilateral and bilateral partners, the IMF says.