Finance Minister Asad Umar has said that Pakistan is just a few weeks away from securing a possible IMF bailout
LAHORE (Pakistan Point News / NNI - 01st April, 2019) Finance Minister Asad Umar has said that Pakistan is just a few weeks away from securing a possible IMF bailout.In an interview with Financial Times, the finance minister said that he hoped an agreement with the IMF would be reached by "late April, first half of May" for a package anywhere between $6 billion to $12 billion.The US and some commentators have expressed concern that the IMF loan would be used by Pakistan to pay its debt to China.
Umar dismissed the concerns and said: "We have a debt problem, a serious debt problem, but not a China debt problem."Pakistan had been added to the FATF grey list last year and experts believed that the FATF would be essential in unlocking an IMF bailout."I think its naive to assume that there is no relationship between FATF and the next IMF programme," said a former finance official. "The IMF will probably demand some major changes in the banking structure, which are also the kinds of changes that are being sought by the FATF."Umar said that sufficient steps are being taken to address FATF's concerns. NNI
