The International Monetary Fund’s board (IMF) on Wednesday approved a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan, providing a critical boost to the country’s struggling economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $7bn (£5.25bn) loan to cash-strapped Pakistan. The country is due to receive the first $1bn of the loan immediately, with the balance to be paid out over the next three years.

Pakistan has received "significant financing assurances" from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates linked to a new International Monetary Fund program that go beyond a deal to roll over $12 billion in bilateral loans owed to them by Islamabad,

Pakistan secured final approval to start a $7 billion loan program from the International Monetary Fund, unlocking crucial financing to sustain the nation’s recovery from a crisis.

Pakistan's benchmark share index hit a life-time high in opening trade on Thursday, hours after the International Monetary Fund's board approved a long-awaited $7 billion bailout deal for the struggling economy.

Pakistan said Thursday it would have to go through "transitional pain" after the International Monetary Fund agreed to a new relief package of $7 billion to bolster its faltering economy.