Pakistan could get temporary relief for its ballooning foreign debt with a new standby arrangement worth $3 billion announced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington on June 29. The economy has been stricken by a balance-of-payments crisis as it attempts to service crippling external debt, while months of political chaos have scared off potential foreign investment. Inflation has rocketed, the rupee has plummeted, and the country can no longer afford imports, causing a severe decline in industrial output. "I am pleased to announce that the IMF team has reached a staff-level agreement with the Pakistani authorities on a nine-month standby arrangement in the amount of SDR2,250 million (about $3 billion)," IMF official Nathan Porter said in a statement.
