ISLAMABAD: Rubbishing rumours that officials from IMF (International Monetary Fund) refused to meet him at the Bretton Woods institutions’ spring meetings, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday rejected these rumours and said that he postponed his visit to the US on the request of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in context of the political situation and unrest.
“Pakistan is a member of the IMF and not a beggar,” the finance minister expressed this in a fiery speech addressing rumours that he postponed his trip due to resistance from the Washington-based lender.
The minister underscored that IMF could not stop him from attending the spring meetings.
Ishaq Dar was expected to attend the spring meetings of the IMF-World Bank that were taking place from April 10 to 16 in Washington.
The stock market also responded well to the news that the finance minister would be attending the meetings; however, it responded the other way when the later news appeared the minister was not participating in the meetings.
Meanwhile, the minister was also scheduled to meet the management of the IMF to hold talks regarding the removal of hurdles for the revival of the derailed $6.5 billion programme.
Ishaq Dar’s statements not solution but problem
Ishaq Dar’s aggressive statement towards IMF bore no concrete impact as the issue between Pakistan and IMF is still pending. A few months back, the finance minister who came to the ministry with tall claims also said he doesn’t care about the IMF.
Now despite responding to the query about not attending the World Bank-IMF meeting, the minister just responded aggressively.
Islamabad has been negotiating with the monetary body since the end of January for the release of $1.1 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package pending since 2019.
To make grounds for the release of the tranche, the government has cut back on subsidies, removed the artificial cap on the exchange rate, raised fuel prices and added a number of taxes.
However, assurances from friendly nations (China, UAE, Saudi Arabia) for additional funds have delayed the agreement.
