ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has turned to the United States for assistance in obtaining “lenient treatment” from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the global lender has demanded assurances over foreign financing, which has prevented Pakistan from signing the staff-level agreement (SLA).
The IMF has asked Pakistan to get confirmation on external financing needs of $6 to $7 billion from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and multilateral creditors to fill the gap till the end of June 2023, The News reported on Tuesday.
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Islamabad has little choice but to turn to Washington and its allies in the west for assistance if it wants to persuade the lender to give it “lenient treatment” for advancing towards the staff-level accord.
According to the report, Ishaq Dar, the minister of finance, made contact with the American diplomatic mission in Islamabad and requested assistance from the US treasury department to break the impasse.
“Without the blessing of Uncle Sam, things may not move in the desired direction, despite Pakistani authorities claiming that they had implemented all prior actions under the advice of the IMF, which were possible for them. Now the IMF is asking to get 200% assurances from the friendly countries and multilateral creditors to fill the financing gap of $6-7 billion on external account till the end of June 2023,” sources confirmed to the publication.
