Islamabad, Apr 16 (IANS): Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has no reason to delay the approval of the staff-level agreement after financial assurances from friendly countries even as a Fund official said the lender looked forward to "necessary financing assurances" as soon as possible to pave way for the completion of the ninth review of the $7 billion programme, according to a media report.

The statement came from IMF Mission Chief to Pakis­tan Nathan Porter, a day after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced the confirmation of $1bn in bilateral financial support to Pakistan, believed to be the last prior action for staff-level agreement with the global lender, Dawn reported.

The Prime Minister said: "The IMF had set a condition for us to arrange funds from friendly countries bef­ore it signed a staff-level agre­­ement with us. We put up an effort of one-and-a-half mon­ths to first have a rollover of $2bn from China and then $3bn from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, thus meeting the last condition of the IMF."

"The new army chief made efforts to acquire the funds from Saudi Arabia and the UAE," the premier said and also praised Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Ishaq Dar for their "hard work" in this regard.

He said that his government "inherited an IMF agr­eement that was in tatters" while expressing the determination to overcome these challenges by striking a deal with the global lender as soon as possible. He acknowledged that the government had to accept the stringent conditions set by the IMF as there was "no alternative", Dawn reported.

Meanwhile, the IMF "welcomed" bilateral assistance confirmation to Pakistan but sought further "assurances" to seal the deal with Islamabad.

During the meetings between the Pakistani delegation and IMF staff and management, there was an agreement to maintain strong policies and secure sufficient financing to support the implementation efforts, the statement said.

"The IMF is supporting these efforts and looks forward to obtaining the necessary financing assurances as soon as possible to pave the way for the successful completion of the ninth External Fund Facility review," it added, Dawn reported.