CORPORATE WINDOW Lenders' support and resistance.

After securing a $4 billion lifeline from friendly Arab countries, the government will be prioritising the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme to ensure that other multilateral entities keep the pipeline flowing amid unending political uncertainty. Walking on a tightrope, the multi-party coalition appears to be struggling to take further inflationary measures ahead of looming elections.

The $9.7bn aid pledged by multilateral lending agencies and bilateral partners in the Geneva conference is based on need assessments of the $16.3bn finalised and certified by the big four: the Asian Development Bank, the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank Group to cover Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework (4RF) spread over 17 critical sectors.

This was concluded with consensus by this group of four and the government based on international best practices in case of similar natural disasters and after considering the economic losses worth $15.3bn and infrastructure damages of $14.9bn.

There was, however, an equally important area where the group of four and the government could not reach a consensus, given international aid sensitivities related to disaster management and rising inflationary pressures across the globe, particularly the donor countries.

The government will have to tread alone with a $13.5bn financial plan, spread over seven years, covering water and irrigation, road infrastructure and railway assets

The government will have to tread alone with a $13.5bn financial plan spread over seven years to send the message of parallel support from non-traditional lending sources and institutions to cover three critical areas - water and irrigation, road infrastructure and railway assets.

A separate chapter 'Achieving Sustainable Climate Resilience', the financing mechanism, sources of financing and gaps was made part of the 4RF without the support of the big four. As a result, a disclaimer had to be added to the 4RF saying the contents of 'Achieving Sustainable Climate Resilience' and the government's current financing expectations do not necessarily reflect the views of the contributing partners, their member states or the World Bank Group and Asian Development Bank's respective management, board members and shareholders.

Under this plan, Pakistan has estimated separate financing requirements of Rs2.98 trillion ($13.5bn) within five to seven years. This includes...