The deal, subject to approval by the IMF board in July, comes after an eight-month delay and offers some respite to Pakistan, which is battling an acute balance of payments crisis and falling foreign exchange reserves.

Following are some reactions to the deal:

MURTAZA SYED, FORMER DEPUTY GOVERNOR OF THE STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN

"The SBA (stand-by arrangement) provides Pakistan with much needed short-term cover, in the lead up to and immediate aftermath of the upcoming elections. As long as Pakistan remains on track under the SBA's reviews, it should catalyze additional financing from bilateral and other multilateral sources.

"In this way, we should be able to meet the external debt repayments coming due in the next few months. It is not the end of our relationship with the IMF though, as the SBA is a short-term bridging operation. The new government will almost definitely need to negotiate another long-term EFF programme with the IMF after the elections, as our balance of payments and external debt repayment problems are of a more protracted nature.

SHAHID HABIB, CEO AT INVESTMENT COMPANY ARIF HABIB LTD, KARACHI

"The new 9-month SBA is a major positive and will significantly reduce risks and uncertainties and serve as a source of comfort to investors and lenders. It will also allow access to funding from other multilateral and bilateral partners which is essential given Pakistan has about USD 9.0 billion of debt repayments including USD 4 billion of sovereign rollovers until December."

MUSADAQ ZULQARNAIN, CHAIRMAN AT INTERLOOP HOLDINGS, ONE OF THE LARGEST TEXTILE MANUFACTURERS IN PAKISTAN

"The 9 month SBA for $3 billion will bring some badly needed relief in the short term. Although the budget has created further difficulties for the corporate sector and the cost of doing business has gone out of the roof, the biggest problem has been the uncertainty and volatility in the market.

"This agreement will at least provide some stability for next few months."

MOHAMMED SOHAIL, CEO OF BROKERAGE FIRM TOPLINE SECURITIES, KARACHI

"This new programme is far better than our expectations. There were a lot of uncertainties on what will happen after June 2023 as there will be a new government coming to power. Now, this funding of 3 billion dollars and for 9 months will definitely help restore some investor confidence."

AHFAZ MUSTAFA, CEO OF BROKERAGE FIRM ISMAIL IQBAL SECURITIES, KARACHI

"It also means that at this point no local/foreign restructuring of debt is on the cards. We have to wait for more details to come and see if any prior actions have to be fulfilled before the board meeting, but these are absolutely steps in the right direction for the economy."

SAJID AMIN JAVED, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY INSTITUTE, ISLAMABAD

"The SBA will come with even more tough conditions of sharp energy price hikes, completely market driven exchange rate, and others. But, Pakistan has no other way to come out of this crisis. We need IMF backing up.

"Things would have been much better if successive governments would have invested in completing the IMF programme. It will have avoided all the uncertainty, panic in market and pressure on currency."

(Reporting by Ariba Shahid, compiled by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

By Ariba Shahid