The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Pakistan has requested a $10 billion exchange stabilization facility from the United States to strengthen its foreign exchange reserves and reduce pressure on the Pakistani rupee, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
According to Reuters, the request was made to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and seeks a bilateral exchange stabilization support facility with a maturity of up to five years. If approved, the arrangement would provide Pakistan with a significant financial backstop as it continues economic reforms under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
Reuters reported that the U.S. Treasury declined to comment on the request, while Pakistan's Finance Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met with Bessent in Washington on Tuesday. In a statement, Pakistan's Finance Ministry said Aurangzeb discussed the country's economic vulnerabilities stemming from regional geopolitical developments and sought greater U.S. support to improve Pakistan's access to international capital markets, increase foreign exchange reserves and strengthen its sovereign credit profile. The statement did not mention the reported request for an exchange stabilization facility.
Reuters said the request follows Pakistan's role in facilitating talks related to the recent Iran conflict, which raised Islamabad's diplomatic profile and fueled expectations that it could seek broader economic cooperation with Washington.
According to Reuters, exchange stabilization facilities are rare financial arrangements typically backed by the U.S. Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund. If approved, the facility would bolster Pakistan's reserves, ease pressure on the rupee and reduce dependence on IMF disbursements and emergency bilateral financing.
Pakistan narrowly avoided sovereign default in 2023 after securing a $3 billion IMF standby arrangement before later obtaining a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility and a separate $1.3 billion climate resilience loan. Reuters reported that despite those agreements, Pakistan continues to rely heavily on official financing, loan rollovers and deposits from countries including China and Saudi Arabia.
Reuters also reported that Pakistan has recently sought to deepen economic ties with the United States through cooperation in cryptocurrency, real estate and mining, including efforts to attract U.S. investment in the Reko Diq mining project.
