By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has canceled his planned visit to Washington, where he was scheduled to meet with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on an installed bailout programme, to keep his presence in politically tense Islamabad.
Minister Dar was planning to attend the spring meetings of the World Bank-IMF in Washington from April 10 to 16 but will not be doing “so due to the domestic state of affairs”, Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Though the cancellation of the trip is due to the deepening political and legal crisis in the country.
Pakistan is currently grappling with both political and economic instability, with a power struggle underway between the government and the higher judiciary.
This comes after the top court ruled that the election commission’s move to delay snap polls in two provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was illegal.
The former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his allies had dissolved the provincial legislative governments in January in a bid to force early general elections.
Despite the court’s ruling, the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is reluctant to hold the votes at this time. They cite the ongoing economic crisis and rising militant attacks as reasons for their hesitation. It is worth noting that historically, Pakistan holds provincial and national elections together.
Political tensions have only increased in recent days, with parliament adopting a resolution that rejects the Supreme Court’s order to hold provincial snap polls. As the situation continues to unfold, it remains to be seen how the government and judiciary will resolve this impasse and restore stability to the country.
As a result of Dar’s decision, meetings with his Saudi Arabia counterpart and the UK state minister for development may be canceled.
Dar had scheduled meetings with the presidents of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank – the three multilateral creditors crucial for Pakistan’s plans to raise $6 billion in additional loans to meet the last IMF condition.
The newspaper also reported that Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq will also not be attending the meetings either, “due to the uncertain political conditions”.
The economic affairs minister is considered very close to Prime Minister Sharif and handles the political affairs of the allied parties.
Finance Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh and Economic Affairs Secretary Kazim Niaz will represent the government at the WB-IMF spring meetings.
Meanwhile junior finance minister Aisha Ghaus Pasha said Saudi Arabia has told the IMF it will provide financing to Pakistan — a critical step needed to secure Fund’;s bailout loan.
Saudi Arabia’s $2 billion pledged in external financing support to Pakistan is one of the final conditions for an IMF deal that Islamabad needs to avert a default.
“Apparently Saudi Arabia has committed to IMF, and IMF has indicated to us that there has been some correspondence from them,” Pasha told reporters in Islamabad.
The IMF funding is critical for Pakistan to unlock other external financing avenues, and the two have been negotiating since early February to resume $1.1 billion in funding held since November, part of a $6.5 billion bailout agreed upon in 2019.
One of the lender’s last remaining conditions for the release of the tranche is securing an assurance on external financing to fund Pakistan’s balance of payments.
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