ISLAMABAD: Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan is a sovereign country, IMF is blackmailing us, and we cannot accept everything it says.
Speaking at the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance yesterday, Ishaq Dar said that nothing will happen to Pakistan with IMF or without IMF, “The monetary fund is wasting our time, Pakistan is apparently being blackmailed,” he said.
Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan’s external deficit gap is only $3 billion, and IMF is stuck at $6 billion, which is wrong. “I said to complete the ninth economic review and then I will share the budget,” he said by adding, “IMF Pakistan If the balance of 2 billion dollars is consumed, it will be sad.”
The finance minister said, “We have spent 7 months on the ninth economic review, we will complete the ninth review, the review will be completed this month, negotiations with the IMF are not a failure for me, the last 30 years with the IMF. I did not have such dealings.”
He further said that he is very sad and it is incomprehensible. “IMF questions are coming on the new budget, the forex market is running completely freely at the moment,” he said.
