<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today announced that it has reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan on a 3 billion dollar stand-by arrangement.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />''</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">According to media reports, the deal is subject to approval by the IMF board in July. It comes after an eight-month delay and aims to address Pakistan's acute balance of payments crisis and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.</span></p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />''</p>''<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">With soaring inflation and foreign exchange reserves that can barely cover a month's worth of controlled imports, Pakistan has been grappling with its worst economic crisis in decades. Analysts had warned that without the IMF agreement, the country could spiral into a debt default.</span></p>