IMF giving us tough time, economic crisis unimaginable: Pak PM

Islamabad, February 3

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was giving his country a “tough time” over unlocking stalled funding from a $6.5 billion bailout at a time of “unimaginable” economic crisis.

Harsh conditions

The conditions we have to fulfill are beyond imagination. The country has no option but to accept them. Shehbaz Sharif, Pak PM

Hours after his remark, the Pakistani rupee hit a record low against the US dollar in a steep slide since the last week.

“Our economic situation is unimaginable,” the premier said, adding the IMF visiting mission was giving Pakistan a “tough time.”

“The conditions we have to fulfill are beyond imagination,” he said, but admitted that the country has no option but to accept them.

“You all know we are running short of resources,” Sharif said, adding the country was “facing an economic crisis”.

He made the comments in a meeting of civil and military leaders in the northwestern city of Peshawar he chaired to prepare a response to Monday’s mosque bombing that killed more than 100 persons.

He was speaking in the context of funds the country might need for any military or counter-terrorism response to the resurgent Islamist militancy.

IMF’s Pakistan representative did not make a comment. — Reuters

Forex reserves at 10-year low

• Pak’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by 16.1% at the end of the last fiscal week, the lowest in a decade
• The reserves would cover around three weeks of imports, said financial analysts
• The central bank said the reserves had come down by USD 592 million