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Former finance minister Miftah Ismail has said that even if a deal is struck with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the risk of Pakistan defaulting will not be reduced.
“The risk of default would not decrease immediately, and the percentage of that risk would not drop instantaneously with the IMF agreement,” Miftah said during an interview on Thursday with a private tv channel.
Nonetheless, he thought that since “essential procedures” had been completed, the deal will be inked by next week.
The former minister said that because the international lender had previously communicated with the prime minister directly, certain political actions must be performed, even at the level of the prime minister. Talks with “friendly nations” must also be held, he added.
Miftah said that there was a “trust deficit” between the IMF and the finance ministry which could be bridged by the prime minister having a dialogue with other nations.
According to Miftah, the government took certain structural decisions due to which the deficit could not be controlled. He maintained that even if Rs20,000 billion were collected, the country’s budget deficit could not be fulfilled and that the figure was 25% of Pakistan’s GDP.