The State Bank of Pakistan on Wednesday received $1.16billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan, 24NewsHD TV channel reported.

The money was deposited after the global lender's Executive Board approved the EFF programme after months-long efforts by Pakistan's government.

The SBP confirmed the development in a tweet, stating: "Today, SBP has received proceeds of $ 1.16 billion after the IMF Executive Board completed the combined seventh and eight reviews under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan.

https://twitter.com/StateBank_Pak/status/1565041773973569536

It added it will help improve the SBP’s foreign exchange reserves and facilitate the realization of other planned inflows from multilateral and bilateral sources.

Earlier this week, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced that the IMF's Executive Board has approved the seventh and eighth tranches worth $1.17 billion of its stalled Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The IMF announced that the executive board completed the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the "extended arrangement" under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan.