Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said that the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the debt recovery progr...
Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said that the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the debt recovery program.
In a statement on the social networking site Twitter, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that Alhamdulillah the IMF Board has approved the revival of our Expanded Fund Facility (EFF) program.
He said that we should now receive the seventh and eighth installments of one billion 170 million dollars from the International Financial Institution.
Miftah Ismail further said that 'I thank Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who took several tough decisions and saved Pakistan from bankruptcy'.
All countries voted for us except India.
Later, Miftah Ismail while speaking in Geo News program 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Saath' said that today IMF has approved Pakistan's loan program, all the countries of the world have voted in our favor, only India did not vote for us.
He said that everyone in Pakistan wanted this program to happen, but Taimur Jhagra and Shaukat Tareen were on the other side.
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He said that the program I have done with the IMF, if there is any mistake in it, tell me, Miftah Ismail says that I will give a primary surplus of 153 billion rupees, if you think it is right or wrong. Tell me, this is normal politics, discuss it.
When asked about Asad Umar's statement regarding the late restoration of the IMF program, Miftah Ismail said that Asad Umar was the finance minister for 9 months but he could not complete the program with the IMF. The next day he went to the IMF to restore the program.
He said that all the institutions have supported me to have a program with the IMF, we have extended the program by one year and this year we will make 4 billion dollars in the program, in addition, the IMF said that in the funding There is a gap of 4 billion dollars, so we brought 5 billion dollars investment in Pakistan, Shahbaz Sharif and I went to Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Miftah Ismail said that when his government ended, China took back the money, we have brought that money back, China has deposited 2 billion 500 million dollars in Pakistan.
He said that I am sure that both Ishaq Dar and Nawaz Sharif are happy. He said that the world knows that there are floods in Pakistan and half of Pakistan is submerged, the poorest people of Pakistan are affected. Arab countries and other countries including European countries are giving us aid, tomorrow we will appeal which will bring at least 160 million dollars.
'IMF program will be relaxed'
Miftah Ismail said that the IMF has expressed sympathy with Pakistanis today and it is obvious that the IMF program will be relaxed, in terms of what it will do for the poor and the flood victims, it is not that Miftah Ismail Go and break the fertilizer companies, the poor whose house is broken, we will help him.
Read more: Staff reports required for agreement with Pakistan received by IMF board
He said that we will deal with the problems that will arise and we will also talk to the IMF that this problem has come, God willing, the cotton crop has deteriorated or if the wheat crop is less, then we will start importing wheat. We have imported 10 lakh tonnes of wheat, we will import 30 to 40 lakh tonnes of wheat.
Miftah Ismail said that Shahbaz Sharif's responsibility is to ensure that 23 crore people have bread, pulses and vegetables will also be imported.
He said that I spoke to the Governor of the Central Bank today that he is spreading his toes after seeing the blanket, if the exports and remittances are worth 5.2 billion dollars, then the imports should also be the same, but if there is an extraordinary flood situation, then it Will see.
We should import vegetables from India.
He said that inflation is high in Pakistan, so I think we should import vegetables from India by land route, in addition to this we will also import from Iran and Turkey, this work has started from last night. , in a day or two we will approve this summary.
It may be recalled that a Dawn report on August 22 stated that diplomatic and IMF sources have said that an agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is close to being finalized as the IMF Executive All 24 board members have received copies of the staff report required to complete the agreement.
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The report stated that documents circulated to IMF board members included a letter of intent from Pakistan, outlining Pakistan's plans to meet IMF conditions for economic reforms. was mentioned.
Pakistan also submitted a memorandum of understanding on economic and fiscal policies, along with a technical memorandum from the IMF team.
IMF staff memoranda included studies and reports prepared for the Board on Article 4 consultations, papers on selected issues, statistical appendices, and policy papers.
It may be noted that the IMF had announced on July 13 that it had entered into a staff-level agreement with Pakistan to advance the review of its Expanded Fund Facility (EFF) as a result of the IMF's A total of 4 billion 20 million dollars can be paid by
It was reported that the deal is subject to approval by the IMF's executive board, after the August 29 meeting, Pakistan could immediately receive about $1.2 billion to ease pressure on the country's currency and reserves. In addition, an IMF loan could pave the way for further financing from other bilateral sources and lenders.
Read more: Important meeting of IMF to renew loan to Pakistan will be held today
The July 13 agreement identified that the immediate priority for stabilizing Pakistan's economy is the sustained implementation of the 2023 budget.
The agreement also proposed continued adherence to market-determined exchange rates and an active and effective monetary policy.
It also emphasized the importance of strengthening social security to preserve and accelerate reforms, including improving state-owned enterprises and governance.
It should be remembered that under the RFI, one billion 3866 thousand dollars was approved to Pakistan on April 2020 by the Executive Board to deal with the economic conditions of the country.
The American newspaper "The Wall Street Journal" had said in a report that international loans and investment agreements worth 37 billion dollars have been made by Pakistan, due to which Pakistan has been protected from economic crisis like Sri Lanka.
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Voice of America reported that in the last 6 weeks, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates have provided loans, financing, oil payments and investments worth about 12 billion dollars to save Pakistan from bankruptcy. , but the loan amount will be available only after the package is approved by the IMF board meeting.
Voice of America had said that according to experts, Pakistan's economy is wide and deep, the country's geographical importance has a special status, due to which the country has been saved from bankruptcy.
Director of South Asia Programs at the US Institute of Peace, Tamna Salikuddin, told Voice of America that despite many differences, the US would have supported lending to Pakistan through the IMF to avoid an economic crisis like Afghanistan. Is.
The continued decline of Rs
It may be recalled that due to the country's trade deficit, increasing political instability and uncertainty, the value of the rupee fell to a low of 239.94 rupees against the US dollar on July 28.
However, on August 16, the value of the rupee was restored to 213.90 rupees, after that the value of the Pakistani currency continued to fluctuate and today, according to the data of the State Bank of Pakistan, the value of the local currency in the interbank exchange of the dollar. In comparison, it closed at Rs 221.92.
Trade deficit
According to a Dawn newspaper report on July 3, Pakistan's trade deficit reached an all-time high of $48.66 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, compared to $30.96 billion a year ago, which is 57 Indicates a percentage increase.
Increase in import bill
During the financial year 2021-22, the import bill increased by 43.45 percent to 80 billion 51 million dollars, which was 56 billion 12 billion dollars a year ago.
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