ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that government is making progress with International Monetary Fund (IMF) and expects to secure approval from its Executive Board on $ 7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) next month.

"We are making good progress with IMF to secure Board approval during September," he said. However, Pakistan's name was not included on Executive Board's schedule for this month, raising concerns about timeline for disbursement of loan. Exclusion from agenda from August also stoked fears that there were still some pending items on Pakistan's to-do list including securing additional external financing. IMF did not respond to request for comment.But the final approval will need to come from IMF Executive Board after Pakistan secures "Timely confirmation of necessary financing assurances from development and bilateral partners."This includes rollovers or disbursements on loans from Pakistan's long-time allies Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and China.