By Hamza Ameer
Islamabad, May 13 (IANS) The state of economy in Pakistan continues to slump further as Islamabad struggles to get any leniency from the global lender the International Monetary Fund (IMF), raising more fears of bankruptcy and a complete economic meltdown.
Amid escalating political tensions after the arrest of Imran Khan, resulting in a serious law and order situation in Pakistan, the economic sector has been hit by yet another serious damage as the rupee felt the heat and melted down by at least 3 per cent pushing its value against the US dollar to a record-high Rs 298.93 in the inter-bank.
This is happening at a time when Pakistan’s desperate pleading and efforts to convince the IMF for the revival of the loan programme through its Extended Funding Facility (EFF), pivotal to giving a lifeline to the country’s crippling economy and open gateway for release of external lending from other financing organisations and different countries.
The economic condition is also showing its effects on the masses as inflation, price hikes, towering price increase in petroleum products, tariff increase of gas and electricity units, have made the life of locals miserable and almost impossible to manage.
Experts say that Islamabad has to comply with the IMF pre-conditions if it wants to present a suitable fiscal budget for 2022-23 in June this year.
On the other hand, the government officials are trying their best to show a green picture of the dire situation, expressing hope and optimism that Pakistan would not default on its external repayments.
Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who has been having consultations with the IMF, conceded that Pakistan government is struggling to resolve the issue of balance of payments crisis, especially in the absence of the IMF deal.
It is pertinent to mention here that IMF has discussed with Pakistan Finance Minister about the possibilities of getting into another financial assistance plan. IMF has already stated about Pakistan that it needs significant additional financing for a successful completion of the ninth review of the bailout package worth $6.5 billion.
“Pakistan has fulfilled all the IMF conditions for the revival of its loan programme. It took steps to meet those conditions. The government has ensured its external repayments till December,” said Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
Pakistan has been able to gather pledges from countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE and China. However, the release of those financial pledges is linked to the revival of the IMF plan, who have advised Islamabad to implement tax reforms, as they are only going to help the country grow into a better economy.
–IANS
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