At the same time, Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir is in Saudi Arabia on an official visit, and will proceed to the United Arab Emirates afterwards. On Thursday, General Munir met Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, and discussed "ways of strengthening cooperation" between the close allies and strategic partners.
Sources have claimed that a proposal to grant Pakistan an additional $3 billion dollars of critical financial support is awaiting the approval of the Saudi king.
Pakistan's foreign reserves stood dangerously low at $4.5 billion on Friday, which is insufficient even for a month's import cover. This has prompted what seem to be last ditch efforts by the country's civilian and military leadership to rally financial support from allied nations and stave off an economic default.
Sources are also reporting that Pakistan has less than two weeks' worth of petroleum reserves left. If true, this would mean that unless serious financial help is on its way soon, Pakistan could experience an economic meltdown like that of Sri Lanka.
It must be noted that any attempt at economic recovery, or restoring stability and certainty, have come to naught mainly due to former prime minister Imran Khan's populist challenge to the incumbent coalition government. Khan has left no stone unturned in depriving the government of any legitimacy, since his own ouster in a no-confidence vote last year in April.
IMF Programme 9th Review
Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif requested the IMF managing director to immediately send over a team to Pakistan in order to commence review negotiations to release the next tranche of its loan.
"I asked her [Georgieva] to send an IMF team for the completion of the pending 9th review of the programme so that the next loan tranche is released," the prime minister told the press. "She assured me that the mission will visit [Pakistan] in the next two to three days."
Sources at the finance ministry could not confirm if any dates for the IMF review mission had been finalized as of the filing of this report. The Pakistani premier’s direct intervention in dealings with the IMF also suggests that matters have precariously slipped out of the finance ministry's grasp.
Finance minister Ishaq Dar will leave for Geneva along with PM Shehbaz, and meet IMF officials on the sidelines of a UN conference there. The conference was originally conceived to attract donor support for Pakistan to recover from last year's devastating floods, but has now been contextualized into a climate resilience event, because of lack of interest from major donor countries who had committed substantial aid to Pakistan in the past.
Timely Progress on CPEC
Also on Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assured his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang of the timely completion of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and promised a safe and conducive environment for investors.
"Pakistan will provide a completely secure and conducive business environment for Chinese investors," the Pakistani premier said in telephonic conversation with Chinese premier Li. Sharif also emphasised Pakistan’s "unswerving focus" on the timely progress of CPEC projects.
Premier Li Keqiang reassured Shehbaz that China views Pakistan not only as a strategic friend, but also as a country whose stability and economic welfare is of utmost importance to China. Premier Li said, "China will always stand in solidarity with Pakistan".
Finance minister Ishaq Dar also held a virtual meeting with Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank President Jin Liqun. Dar requested additional financial support and cooperation from the Chinese financial institution.
Energy Conservation Plan
The federal government has also announced strict energy conservation measures that would be requires to ration limited fuel supplies. The plan would require shops and restaurants to close early, inviting stiff resistance from retailers and small businessmen as it would dampen economic recovery.
However, defence minister Khawaja Asif said it would be necessary to take these strict measures, otherwise Pakistan could face blackouts leading to a collapse of economic capacity.
https://twitter.com/TFT_/status/1611513817397186562
Recently, Pakistan's civil-military leadership redoubled their commitment to economic stability in the country, acknowledging that national security and sovereignty could not be assured without economic independence and self-reliance.