SINGAPORE: Pakistan is unlikely to enter another lending programme with the International Monetary Fund, but a final decision on that will be taken towards the end of the year, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said on Thursday.

‘I think we are moving in the right direction,’ Tarin told Reuters in an interview in Singapore.

‘After we are through with the IMF programme, we don’t need another programme.’

However, a final decision would be taken by the end of the year, he said.

Tarin also said foreign exchange reserves will likely reach $20 billion or more by the end of the year.

‘We probably could be sitting on $20 billion plus of reserves by the end of December.’

Pakistan’s economy has been struggling as it battles militants in the northwest.

The government expects gross domestic product growth for the fiscal year at 3.4 per cent, compared with an earlier estimate of 3.3 per cent.

An IMF loan package of $7.6 billion agreed in November 2008 helped avert a balance of payments crisis and shore up reserves.