Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva, the prime minister's office said in a statement on Thursday.

"The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the funds allocated under the IMF's EFF would be released as soon as possible," the statement said. (Reporting by Asif Shehzad, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)