ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed strong upward movement on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining over 1,300 points in early trading. The surge came after Pakistan secured a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
KSE-100 Index hovered at 117,935.80, marking an increase of 1,302.64 points, or 1.12 percent. Market activity was driven by broad-based buying across key sectors, including automobile manufacturing, cement, chemicals, commercial banks, oil and gas exploration companies, and power generation. Prominent stocks such as OGDC, MARI, PPL, HUBCO, PSO, SNGPL, and SSGC remained favourite.
The surge comes after announcement by the global lender, which confirmed a $1.3 billion arrangement with Pakistan and the completion of the first review of the ongoing 37-month bailout program. Pending approval from the IMF’s Executive Board, the agreement will grant Pakistan access to $1.3 billion under a new climate resilience loan program over 28 months. Additionally, it unlocks $1 billion under the existing $7 billion bailout program, raising total disbursements to $2 billion.
IMF said it had reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan on the first review of the 37-month Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and a new 28-month arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). This deal will provide Pakistan with access to a total of $1.3 billion (SDR 1 billion) under the new arrangement.
After the announcement, investor sentiment remained positive, with the market stabilizing despite some volatility on Tuesday. The KSE-100 Index closed at 116,633.17 points on Tuesday after fluctuating throughout the day.
IMF approves $1.3 Billion Loan to Pakistan with focus on economic reforms, climate resilience
