KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Saturday that he had postponed his trip to Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on the prime minister’s directives owing to the country’s political circumstances.
Dar, on the other hand, stated that he will attend major bilateral and multilateral meetings online, and that a Pakistani delegation would be in Washington.
Pakistan is on the verge of defaulting on its debt, with an IMF rescue package frozen since November, and a bitter political war brewing between the administration and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Dar said the problem had been exacerbated by a recent Supreme Court judgment rejecting attempts to postpone elections for two provincial assemblies slated for next month. The court and the government are at odds as a result of the order.
FASTFACT
Pakistan is on the verge of defaulting on its debt, with an IMF rescue package frozen since November, and a bitter political war brewing between the administration and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“We’re in a strange mess as a country… so, under these circumstances, and on the orders of the prime minister, I’ve dropped plans to be there (in Washington) physically,” Dar said in a televised address.
The minister denied claims that the postponed trip was related to a snag in Pakistan’s IMF bailout package.
The Supreme Court, he claimed, had created a “constitutional crisis” by demanding that the government provide the election authorities with 21 billion Pakistani rupees ($74 million) by Monday in order to hold the polls.
Dar stated that Pakistan had fulfilled all requirements of the IMF’s program review in order to get over $1.1 billion in essential support for the cash-strapped country.
He stated that all that needed was for one country to confirm that it would pay Pakistan with $1 billion to shore up its external accounts. Another country had already agreed to contribute $2 billion, he said.
While Dar did not name the two countries, Pakistan’s junior finance minister stated on Thursday that Saudi Arabia had informed the IMF of its willingness to lend to Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia has promised $2 billion, according to local media, while the United Arab Emirates is awaiting confirmation of $1 billion.
The minister stated that a personnel level agreement will be reached once the $1 billion was confirmed. He denied that any other issues were pending.
Pakistan is in desperate need of finances, with its foreign exchange reserves hovering around $4.2 billion, which only covers one month’s worth of imports.
