Washington: The International Monetary Fund approved a half billion disbursement for Pakistan after the board’s latest review, the fund said in a statement.”The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed today the second through fifth reviews of the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan. The Board’s decision allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 350 million (about US$500 million), bringing total purchases for budget support under the arrangement to about US$2 billion,” the IMF said on Wednesday.In a separate statement, the IMF said Pakistan’s authorities have taken strong corrective actions to address institutional and technical short-comings that gave rise earlier to inaccurate information.The IMF approved a 39-month Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan for $ 6 billion on July 3, 2019. The program aims to support Pakistan’s policies to boost the economy amid the pandemic, ensure macroeconomic and debt sustainability, and advance structural reforms to lay the foundations for growth, the IMF said.IMF board Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, Antoinette Sayeh, said while the pandemic continues to pose challenges, Pakistani authorities’ policies have been critical in supporting the economy and saving lives and livelihoods.”The authorities have also continued to advance their reform agenda in key areas, including on consolidating central bank autonomy, reforming corporate taxation, bolstering management of state-owned enterprises, and improving cost recovery and regulation in the power sector,” she said as quoted in the statement. “Going forward, further sustained efforts, including broadening the revenue base carefully managing spending and securing provincial contributions, will help achieve a lasting improvement in public finances and place debt on a downward path.”Recent measures, she added, have helped contain the accumulation of new arrears in the energy sector.She also said further efforts to remove structural impediments will strengthen economic productivity, confidence, and private sector investment.The IMF also recommends bolstering transparency, boosting business environment and job creation, and strengthening the effectiveness of anti-corruption institutions, Sayeh added.