Pakistan is not on the verge of defaulting on its loans, the finance minister said on Thursday, adding that the government expected to sign a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund by next week.

"Anti-Pakistan elements are spreading malicious rumours that Pakistan may default. This is not only completely false but also belie the facts," Ishaq Dar said on Twitter.

"Our negotiations with IMF are about to conclude and we expect to sign staff level agreement with IMF by next week. All economic indicators are slowly moving in the right direction." (Reporting by Asif Shahzad, Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Krishna N. Das)