© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar gestures during a news conference to announce the economic survey for fiscal year 2016-2017, in Islamabad, Pakistan, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood
By Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam
KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday that he had canceled his trip to Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on the prime minister’s order due to the political situation in Pakistan. the country.
However, Dar said he would attend important bilateral and multilateral meetings virtually and that a Pakistani delegation would be present in Washington.
Pakistan is in danger of defaulting on its debt, with an International Monetary Fund bailout program stalled since November, while a tough political battle rages between the government and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Dar said the crisis had been exacerbated by a recent Supreme Court order that struck down plans to delay elections to two provincial assemblies scheduled for next month. The order has created a standoff between the government and the court.
“We are stuck in a strange mess as a country…so in these circumstances, by order of the prime minister, I have abandoned plans to be there.” [in Washington] physically,” Dar said in a televised address.
The minister dismissed reports that the canceled trip is linked to a holdup in Pakistan’s IMF bailout program.
He added that the Supreme Court created a “constitutional crisis”, which required the government to provide 21 billion Pakistani rupees ($74 million) to electoral authorities by Monday to conduct the polls.
IMF REHABILITATION
Dar said Pakistan, for its part, had completed all the requirements of the IMF program review for the release of more than $1.1 billion in critical funds for the cash-strapped country.
He said all that was left was confirmation by a country that it would provide Pakistan with $1 billion to shore up its external account requirements. Another country had already confirmed that it would provide $2 billion, she added.
While Dar did not name the two countries, Pakistan’s junior finance minister said Thursday that Saudi Arabia had conveyed to the IMF its commitment to provide financing to Pakistan.
Local media have widely reported that Saudi Arabia has committed $2 billion, while the United Arab Emirates was expecting a confirmation of $1 billion.
The minister said that once the $1 billion is confirmed, an agreement will be reached at the staff level. He denied that there were any other pending issues.
Pakistan is in dire need of funds with its foreign exchange reserves hovering at around $4.2 billion, providing barely a month of import coverage.
(This story has been re-archived to remove the strange word in paragraph 2)
($1 = 283,5000 Pakistani rupees)