ISLAMABAD  -  Talks between Paki­stan and the Internation­al Monetary Fund (IMF) for the third tranche of $1.1 billion are expected to start likely in the first week of March.

Pakistan has already re­ceived two tranches worth of $1.9 billion under the Stand-By Arrangement from the IMF. The talks for the remaining last tranche worth of $1.1 billion are expected to start by the end of current month or start of next month. “It is expected that the IMF will hold talks with the new elected government,” said an official of the ministry of finance. He further said that the schedule of talks would be decided in next few days. 

In a strange co-inci­dence, the IMF programme was designed in a way that each of three governments including PDM, caretaker and new government, each would receive one tranche from the Fund in the nine-month programme. 

The new government would have to confront with different economic challenges including main­taining better foreign ex­change reserves to repay previous loans.