"Friendly" countries have helped Pakistan to meet requirements necessary to secure a bailout by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday.

Islamabad had been working on implementing conditions from the IMF to complete a $7 billion, 37-month loan programme agreed in July, which Pakistan hopes will be its last.

(Reporting by Gibran Peshimam in Islamabad; Writing by Pushkala Aripaka in New Delhi; Editing by Kevin Liffey)