$6 billion financing plan remains elusive
ISLAMABAD: REFERENCES: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday rejected Pakistan’s request to cut additional loans to $5 billion, with its deputy managing director seeking further clarification on a possible specific plan to get the loans. The Ministry of Finance did not disclose the possibility of a breakthrough following a technical contact between Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and IMF Deputy Director General Antoinette Monsio Sayeh.
The ministry’s official statement reproduced almost identical content to what had been reported a day earlier after Dar’s meeting with IMF director Jihad Azour. The topics of discussion and responses remained almost the same for the second day in a row.
This virtual contact was initiated on the day when the judicial and constitutional crisis deepened in Pakistan. The National Assembly’s decision to reject the Finance Bill to provide funds for elections and the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s interim order preventing the government from implementing another law passed to enhance the powers of the supreme judiciary further deteriorated the political situation .Political stability and the importance of the Constitution are seen as crucial to long-term fiscal relations.
During the meeting, the IMF sought details of the $6 billion financing package and questioned the viability of some of the figures presented by Pakistani authorities, the sources said. The Finance Minister cited the bankruptcy he has been trying to raise for months. Pakistan has asked the IMF to consider reducing additional credit requirements to $5 billion because of a smaller-than-expected deficit for the current fiscal year.
