Pak, Sri Lanka close in on IMF deals after raising taxes to boost economies

Pakistan and Sri Lanka are getting close to securing bailouts from the International Monetary Fund after taking a series of steps including tax increases to boost their beleaguered economies.
 

Pakistan has taken all the measures needed to unfreeze a $6.5 billion credit line and expects to clinch the deal “any day now,” Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar said in an interview in Washington Tuesday. Sri Lanka has completed a list of 15 tasks assigned by the lender to clinch a $2.9 billion loan program, according to President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The IMF funds are crucial to stabilizing Pakistan and Sri Lanka