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Former finance minister and PTI Secretary General Asad Umar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra have addressed the alleged audio leaks of PTI Senator Shaukat Tarin regarding the crucial International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, defending the former finance minister saying he was asking Punjab, KP governments to push federal government to ask IMF for concession for promised provincial surplus.
Former federal minister also claimed that the audio was tampered before being released.
“Can anyone say this isn’t good advice?” Asad Umar questioned, adding that former Prime Minister Imran Khan had done something similar and negotiated with the IMF when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Earlier on Monday, two audio clips surfaced via TV channels and social media; in one, the man said to be Tarin can be heard purportedly guiding Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari to tell the federal government and the IMF that he would not be able to commit to a provincial budget surplus in light of the recent floods that have wreaked havoc in Pakistan.
In the other alleged audio, Tarin can be purportedly heard asking Jhagra whether he had drawn up a similar document.
On Friday, Jhagra had written a letter to Finance Minister Miftah Ismail just three days ahead of the IMF executive board’s meeting scheduled for Aug 29 (today) to approve the disbursement of a $1.18 billion tranche to Pakistan under a bailout package. In the letter, Jhagra informed Ismail that his KP administration might find it difficult to run a provincial surplus this year in view of flood-related damages.
Addressing the entire incident and alleged audio leak, Umar scoffed the government for “tempering” the audio and videos.
Regarding the alleged audio content, Umar said Tarin had asked both provincial finance ministers to request the federal government to renegotiate the IMF agreement due to the recent floods as the expenses required for relief operations would make achieving a provincial surplus difficult.
So audio call btwn Tarin & prov FM leaked. There is nothing illegal or wrong in the convo. We have publicly opposed the terms on which imported govt is taking loan from #IMF. But what is illegal is the wire tapping done on conversation without court order. A criminal offence.
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) August 29, 2022
PTI senior leader Shireen Mazari also defended the former finance minister saying there was “nothing illegal or wrong” in the conversations. “We have publicly opposed the terms on which the imported govt is taking loan from IMF.”
