PM Imran Khan to attend World Government Summit in Dubai

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan will also meet IMF chief Lagarde in Dubai.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Prime Minister Imran Khan has departed for Dubai on a day-long visit on Sunday to address the seventh edition of the World Government Summit and meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde for talks on certain issues regarding bailout negotiations.

The annual gathering of heads of states and governments, policy makers and experts will provide an opportunity to discuss improvement in governance through reform, innovation and technology, Radio Pakistan reported.

Pakistan is seeking its 13th bailout since the late 1980s to deal with a current account deficit that threatens to trigger a balance of payments crisis, but talks have been delayed by difficulties in reconciling IMF reform demands with Islamabad’s fears the push is too drastic and could hurt economic growth.

According to the Foreign Office (FO), the premier has been visited by United Arab Emirates (UAE) Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

Moreover, he will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Finance Minister Asad Umar, the state media reported.

Before departing for Dubai, Qureshi said that bad governance has created multiple issues in Pakistan.

"PM Imran Khan has been striving to establish a fresh model and reforms for improvement in the performance of institutions," he said.

Regarding the meeting with IMF chief, he revealed that Islamabad aimed to proceed with the bailout package under conditions that would not pull an  unjustified  burden on the general public.

Earlier, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told Reuters that the prime minister will meet IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on the sidelines of the World Government Summit in Dubai.

“This will give us a chance to understand the IMF views and we will be able to give our version to (Lagarde),” said Chaudhry, who will accompany Khan to Dubai along with Finance Minister Asad Umar.

Chaudhry said Pakistan wants any agreed bailout package, which would be the country’s second IMF bailout since 2013, to be the nation’s last such economic rescue by the IMF.

Officials had expected talks to conclude in November but they have been delayed as Islamabad harbours concerns that the programme could derail the economy and Khan’s plans for his term in office.

Pakistan has in the meantime sought financial assistance from Middle Eastern allies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who have loaned it in excess of $10 billion to ease the pressure on its dwindling foreign currency reserves.

“The problem is not the (IMF) deal, the problem is the condition attached to the deal,” Chaudhry said.

“We don’t want conditions that hurt Pakistan’s growth prospects. We want a fair deal that can actually help Pakistan in the short term, without affecting our long-term economic goals.”

The IMF talks come amid a worsening macroeconomic outlook, with growth expectations slashed for the current fiscal year to about 4 percent from 6 percent previously forecast.

On Saturday, Pakistan also revised its growth figures for the last financial year to 5.2 percent from a previously reported 5.8 percent, after a sharp cut in the figure for large-scale manufacturing, the statistics office said.

When the original estimate was reported in April by the government of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi it was hailed as the strongest growth in 13 years.

Before the revisions to last year’s GDP figures, Pakistan’s deficit to GDP ratio, estimated at 5.8 percent in 2017-18, was expected to hit 6.9 percent this year, according to IMF data.