The International Monetary Fund has approved a $7 billion loan to cash-strapped Pakistan as the fragile economy of the South Asian nation grapples with deepening economic troubles.

The IMF executive board approved a 37-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility for Pakistan.

The fund’s immediate disbursement would be about $1 billion, the IMF said in a statement on Thursday.

The prime minister’s office said the first tranche of nearly $1.1 billion U.S. would be released immediately.

Pakistan has approached the global lender 24 times since 1958 as successive governments failed to break the cycle of economic mismanagement and reliance on external aid.

The IMF statement also said Pakistan’s vulnerabilities and structural challenges remain formidable.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the development, “After achieving economic stability, we will continue to work hard to meet our targets for economic growth.”

“If the same hard work continues, God willing, this will be Pakistan’s last IMF programme,” Mr Sharif said in a statement.

Mr Sharif’s team started the groundwork soon after the February elections and reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF in July.

His government is facing criticism after imposing heavy taxes on the salaried class and increasing electricity prices. The tough and unpopular decisions taken in line with the IMF’s preconditions have substantially eroded public support for the government.

Critics, especially from the opposition led by former prime minister Imran Khan, blame Sharif for worsening the economic situation.

The government argues that it inherited the crisis from Khan’s administration, whose policies had left the economy on the brink of collapse.

(dpa/NAN)