Lahore: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Saturday disclosed that Army Chief General Asim Munir played a role in securing funds from Saudi Arabia and the UAE — a pre-condition by the IMF to seal a bailout deal with the cash-strapped nation.
Addressing a ceremony here, Sharif also expressed hope that now the IMF will not delay in reaching an agreement for USD 1.1 billion sought by Pakistan.
“Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir has contributed to the government’s efforts to secure funds from Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Sharif said.
Debt-ridden Pakistan and the IMF have failed to reach a staff-level agreement on the much-needed USD 1.1 billion bailout package aimed at preventing the country from going bankrupt.
The funds are part of a USD 6.5 billion bailout package the IMF approved in 2019, which analysts say is critical if Pakistan is to avoid defaulting on external debt obligations.
Earlier, the Pakistani Army had announced that Gen. Munir has no role in politics while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan still maintains that the ultimate power in the country’s politics rests with the Army chief.
The premier said that after securing funds/loans, Pakistan has now met all “tough conditions” of the IMF for the staff-level agreement.
“Hopefully the IMF will now have no excuse to delay the agreement (to release a tranche of USD 1.1 billion),” he said.
Pakistan signed a USD 6.5 billion bailout package with the IMF in 2019 but has repeatedly reneged on conditions and so far, just USD 3 billion has been released by the Washington-based crisis lender.
Sharif said the IMF had sought bilateral financial support from friendly nations before the staff-level agreement.
“Realising our problems, China provided a rollover of USD 2 billion loan, besides returning back previous debt amount paid back by Pakistan. The UAE had committed a loan of USD 3 billion,” he said.
“Such tough conditions were set which weren’t easy for Pakistan to fulfil,” the premier said.
PTI
