ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has expressed hope that a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be finalized next month.

In an interview with British news agency Reuters, he said the government is seeking a longer loan to help bring permanence to macroeconomic stability as well as an umbrella under which the country can execute much needed structural reforms, according to a Radio Pakistan’s report.

The Finance Minister said we expect the IMF mission to be in Islamabad around the middle of next month. He said once the IMF loan is agreed, Pakistan would also request additional financing from the Fund under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust.

He said we have to come back into a certain ratings environment and the government is hoping to get an improvement in its sovereign rating in the next fiscal year.