The prime minister regretted that the coalition government was using all of its efforts to persuade IMF officials to grant a tranche of $1.1 billion. He expressed these remarks while speaking at a ceremony after assessing the building progress on the six-lane overhead bridge of Imamia Colony trains to cross Shahdra N-5.
The prime minister acknowledged the nation's suffering as a result of historically high inflation and acknowledged that Pakistan had "no choice" but to agree to all the stringent requirements set forth by the IMF to obtain a much-needed bailout tranche from the Washington-based lender.
Pakistan and the IMF agreed to a bailout package of $6.5 billion in 2019. However, Pakistan has frequently broken the terms of the agreement, and only $3 billion has been delivered.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) confirmed financial support for Pakistan of $1 billion a day earlier, becoming the third country to do so after longtime allies China and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan needs external financing to close the balance of payments gap for the fiscal year that ends in June.
The guarantees were one of the last conditions the IMF set before agreeing to a staff-level agreement to release a $1.1 billion tranche that had been delayed for months but was essential for Pakistan to address a severe balance of payments crisis.
The PM stated that "such strict requirements were set, which were not easy for Pakistan to fulfill," and that the coalition government had put much effort in over the past 1.5 months.
PM Shehbaz praised Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, saying that they were working hard to fulfill the final requirement of obtaining financial guarantees from "key" friendly countries.
The premier also mentioned that Army Chief General Asim Munir helped with these efforts, leading to Saudi Arabia and the UAE committing financial support.
He thanked Saudi Arabia and the UAE for exemplifying what true brotherhood is.
The prime minister anticipated that Pakistan and the Washington-based lender would soon come to a staff-level agreement. Still, he prayed that the IMF's restrictions would be lifted for the 220 million-person nation.