Pakistan’s newly appointed finance minister said on Friday, March 22 (Wri 3) that the country plans to request more loans from the International Monetary Fund.
Mohammad Aurangzeb, who is scheduled to meet the officials of the International Monetary Fund or IMF in Washington DC this coming April, says that after the end of the current 3 billion dollars in economic aid, Pakistan will withdraw from this international organization. Ask for more loans to prove the economy of the country.
Although Mr. Aurangzeb did not say at the press conference in Islamabad how much more credit Pakistan will ask for from the IMF, some government officials of Pakistan have already said that the country may have to borrow for the next three years. Ask for another loan of up to 8 billion dollars.
The IMF announced on the 20th of March that they have reached a preliminary agreement with the government of Pakistan on the payment of the last installment of the three billion dollar loan.
The IMF announced this news at the end of nearly a week of talks with Islamabad. Head of the International Monetary Fund, Nathan Porter, said that the International Organization and the Pakistani authorities reached an agreement in the second evaluation, which is the final evaluation of Pakistan’s stabilization program.
He said: “This agreement must now be approved by the Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund, according to which the remaining 1.1 billion dollars will be given to Pakistan.”
Pakistan, which has so far received nearly $1.9 billion from this program, will receive the last installment ($1.1 billion) in April.
Porter added that after the SBA program, Pakistan’s economic and financial situation has improved. But on the other hand, in a statement of the IMF, it was said that Pakistan’s economic growth will be low this year and inflation will be “higher than the target”.
Pakistan, which is facing a severe shortage of cash, since last year, the economic crisis has reached a level that has not been seen in the history of this country. The inflation rate has risen to 40 percent and there were fears that it might fail to meet its financial obligations.
The newly appointed finance minister said that inflation in the country has dropped to 23 percent and he wants to lower it further to help the country’s residents pay their electricity and gas bills.
Economic commentators who monitor Pakistan’s affairs believe that despite receiving more than 20 loans from the International Monetary Fund, Pakistan’s weak economy is facing serious challenges.
According to them, Pakistan’s economy, due to lack of basic financial and economic reforms, shortage of foreign exchange reserves, debt crisis, increase in inflation, unprecedented increase in the value of the Pakistani rupee and continuous political Troubled by instability, this $1.1 billion loan is in dire need as the country’s economic crisis has reached a level not seen since independence in 1947. .