ISLAMABAD: Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif met IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva in Paris on Thursday for launch of halted funds forward of the credit score line’s expiry subsequent week. The Paris pitch got here amid claims again dwelling that Shehbaz’s finance minister Ishaq Dar slapped a reporter who requested him questions on the stalled funds.
In Paris, on the sidelines of the summit for a New World Monetary Pact, Shehbaz apprised Kristalina of the steps being taken to handle Pakistan’s flailing financial system, progress and stability. In doing so, he expressed hope that funds allotted below the IMF’s Prolonged Fund Facility (EFF) could be launched quickly.
IMF’s ninth assessment below the 2019 EFF for the discharge of $1.2 billion — a part of a $6.7billion bailout package deal — is pending, with simply eight days remaining for the programme’s June 30 expiry.
Cashstrapped Pakistan was anticipated to get the $1.2 billion in October final yr however that tranche has not materialised as, in line with IMF, Pakistan has failed to fulfill vital conditions.
This delay has made the programme’s tenth assessment, initially a part of the plan, nearly unattainable. In Islamabad, the row round FM Dar erupted when he misplaced his cool after the journalist requested him the rationale for the failure to safe the IMF deal. “As a result of individuals like you’re within the system,” he snapped.
The reporter retorted: “we’re not within the system… we simply ask questions”. At that time, Dar rotated angrily and his guards shoved the journalist away. Later, the reporter launched a video. “Dar’s guards grabbed me after which the minister slapped me,” he claimed.
In Paris, on the sidelines of the summit for a New World Monetary Pact, Shehbaz apprised Kristalina of the steps being taken to handle Pakistan’s flailing financial system, progress and stability. In doing so, he expressed hope that funds allotted below the IMF’s Prolonged Fund Facility (EFF) could be launched quickly.
IMF’s ninth assessment below the 2019 EFF for the discharge of $1.2 billion — a part of a $6.7billion bailout package deal — is pending, with simply eight days remaining for the programme’s June 30 expiry.
Cashstrapped Pakistan was anticipated to get the $1.2 billion in October final yr however that tranche has not materialised as, in line with IMF, Pakistan has failed to fulfill vital conditions.
This delay has made the programme’s tenth assessment, initially a part of the plan, nearly unattainable. In Islamabad, the row round FM Dar erupted when he misplaced his cool after the journalist requested him the rationale for the failure to safe the IMF deal. “As a result of individuals like you’re within the system,” he snapped.
The reporter retorted: “we’re not within the system… we simply ask questions”. At that time, Dar rotated angrily and his guards shoved the journalist away. Later, the reporter launched a video. “Dar’s guards grabbed me after which the minister slapped me,” he claimed.
