Dar informed that the ninth review of the IMF programme will be completed this month…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday said that Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are underway and the talks have not failed nor the negotiation phase has concluded, reported ARY News.
Dar informed that the ninth review of the IMF programme will be completed this month. He said, “Our talks with the IMF are underway and it has not concluded yet. We have already made the payment for which Fitch expressed concerns.”
ARY News is a Pakistani news channel.
“The Pakistan-IMF talks have not failed and there is no issue in payments till June 30. We are fully prepared to make timely payments till June 30,” he added.
Meanwhile, the IMF on expressed dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s recently presented budget.
Pakistan has barely enough currency reserves to cover one month’s imports. It had hoped to have USD 1.1 billion of the funds released in November – but the IMF has insisted on a number of conditions before it makes any more disbursements.
The minister said that some elements want to see Pakistan like Sri Lanka before conducting talks with the IMF. He further said that State Bank is a bank of Pakistan and does not belong to any global institution.
“Geopolitics is underway to default Pakistan. The amendments in the State Bank Act are intolerable. We have also amended the State Bank Act, however, it is incomplete yet. It is our priority to make timely payments including bonds,” he said.
Dar denied the rumours and said that the federal government will not decide to freeze lockers, gold, and Roshan Digital Accounts.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and said that the debts have increased from USD 70 billion to USD 130 billion during the last four years, ARY reported.
Meanwhile, Moody’s, in its latest report, expressed fear that Pakistan might face default in case of failure of the IMF programme. Only two weeks are left for Pakistan to reach a deal with IMF or face failure that would have serious consequences for the economy.
The rating agency said that without an IMF programme, Pakistan could default, given its very weak reserves. The State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange holdings are below USD 4 billion. Along with the Moody’s, other rating agencies have been warning that Pakistan could default in case IMF refused to complete the bailout package, reported Dawn. (ANI)
