IMF treating Pakistan like a colony: Maryam Nawaz

Lahore. Senior Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz has said that Pakistan is a “hostage” to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and is treating it like a colony. Maryam Nawaz said this while criticizing former Prime Minister Imran Khan for violating previous agreements with the global lender. Actually, Pakistan’s economy is facing a serious crisis.

The country is awaiting much-needed funding of US$1.1 billion from the Washington-based IMF. Addressing youth and social media activists in Model Town area of ​​Lahore here on Monday, Maryam said, “IMF is not ready to trust us. Pakistan is hostage to IMF and it is treating the country like a colony. Even if we try to get out of its clutches, we cannot. ,

According to a report in Pakistan daily Dawn, Maryam also strongly criticized Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan for violating the previous IMF agreement. He said that because of the mistakes of Imran Khan, the country is begging for one billion rupees. Maryam, 49, compared the government of her father and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif with that of Imran Khan, saying the cricketer-turned-politician had started destroying the country’s economy during his tenure. He accused Imran of taking financial advantage by selling gifts received by him when he was the prime minister and putting Pakistan’s economy in jeopardy. He said that Imran Khan should be arrested. Maryam said, “Why is he hiding behind party workers? He wants to become prime minister again. I ask what has he done to make him the prime minister again. Imran Khan tried to get the support of some generals and judges. Now he is counting on the judiciary to return to power.” Meanwhile, cash-strapped Pakistan has decided to seek help from the US to soften the stance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) towards it. Significantly, the staff-level agreement between Pakistan and the IMF is yet to be signed. Pakistan is yet to receive the $1.1 billion installment from the IMF. Having failed to persuade the IMF to go ahead with the staff-level agreement, Pakistan has no option but to seek help from Washington and other Western allies, Geo News reported. Pakistan’s economy is in deep trouble. A few weeks ago, its foreign exchange reserves had reached an all-time low of $2.9 billion. Finance Minister Isaac Dar has reportedly established contact with US diplomats in Islamabad and sought help in resolving the impasse through the intervention of the US Treasury Department.

It said, “The IMF now calls for Pakistan to obtain 200 per cent assurance by the end of June 2023 from its friendly countries and multilateral creditors to fill the financing gap of $6-7 billion on the external account.” Pakistan has been asked to seek support from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and multilateral lenders for external financing needs of six to seven billion dollars by June 2023 to bridge the financial gap.

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