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Islamabad: Pakistan PM Shahbaz Sharif met with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Paris on Thursday to release stalled funds before the line of credit expires next week. The Paris stadium came amid allegations back home that Finance Minister Shahbaz Ishaq Dar slapped a reporter who asked him questions about the stalled funds.
In Paris, on the sidelines of a new global financial pact summit, Shahbaz briefed Kristalina on steps being taken to address Pakistan’s ailing economy, growth and stability. In doing so, he hoped that funds earmarked under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility would be released soon.
The IMF’s ninth review under the 2019 EFF to issue $1.2 billion — part of the $6.7 billion bailout package — is pending, with just eight days left until the program expires on June 30.
Cash-bound Pakistan was expected to receive $1.2 billion in October last year, but that tranche did not materialize. According to the International Monetary Fund, Pakistan has failed to meet important basic requirements.
This delay made the tenth revision of the programme, which had originally been part of the plan, almost impossible. In Islamabad, the FM Dar feud broke out when he lost his temper after a journalist asked him the reason for failing to secure an IMF deal. He said, “Because people like you are in the system.”
The reporter responded, “We’re not in the system…we’re just asking questions.” At that moment, Dar angrily turned around and pushed the journalist away from his bodyguards. Later, the reporter posted a video. He claimed that “the guards of the house grabbed me, and then the minister slapped me.”
In Paris, on the sidelines of a new global financial pact summit, Shahbaz briefed Kristalina on steps being taken to address Pakistan’s ailing economy, growth and stability. In doing so, he hoped that funds earmarked under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility would be released soon.
The IMF’s ninth review under the 2019 EFF to issue $1.2 billion — part of the $6.7 billion bailout package — is pending, with just eight days left until the program expires on June 30.
Cash-bound Pakistan was expected to receive $1.2 billion in October last year, but that tranche did not materialize. According to the International Monetary Fund, Pakistan has failed to meet important basic requirements.
This delay made the tenth revision of the programme, which had originally been part of the plan, almost impossible. In Islamabad, the FM Dar feud broke out when he lost his temper after a journalist asked him the reason for failing to secure an IMF deal. He said, “Because people like you are in the system.”
The reporter responded, “We’re not in the system…we’re just asking questions.” At that moment, Dar angrily turned around and pushed the journalist away from his bodyguards. Later, the reporter posted a video. He claimed that “the guards of the house grabbed me, and then the minister slapped me.”
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