Trouble mounts for Pak as IMF rejects loan request

Acabinet member on Thursday said Pakistan's request to lower the requirement of securing USD 6 billion in additional loans had been denied by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), leaving the government with no choice but to try to salvage the agreement, The Express Tribune reported.

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Minister of State for Finance Dr Aisha Pasha, in a policy statement delivered during the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, stressed that Pakistan's only choice was to return to the IMF. The committee also addressed the idea of invoking the recently passed contempt of the Parliament law against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for his persistent absence during the meeting, which was presided over by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Qaiser Sheikh, as per The Express Tribune.

Dr Pasha claimed that Pakistan asked the IMF to take into account lowering the USD 6 billion external funding requirement based on fresh data on the current account deficit, but the Fund declined. The other USD 3 billion was to be arranged after the staff-level agreement, she said, but the IMF insisted on "demonstrating the USD 6 billion". She went on to say that there was an understanding to arrange USD 3 billion before the agreement.