PM Shehbaz calls meeting to brainstorm measures to wriggle out of economic woes
Pakistan
PM Shehbaz calls meeting to brainstorm measures to wriggle out of economic woes
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday summoned a meeting of his economic team to sort out issues related to bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and whispers of default risks.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, State Bank of Pakistan acting governor Murtaza Syed, officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and others will attend the meeting. The economic team will brief the premier on repayment of loans, foreign exchange reserves and other matters. The meeting has been called at a time when the past and present finance ministers of the coalition government are making contradictory claims about the default risks being faced by the country.
A day earlier, former finance minister Miftah Ismail warned that the default risk would continue to loom over the country until it managed to secure the next tranche of loan from the IMF. Mr Ismail said Pakistan wouldn t be able to get loans from other global lenders if the ninth review under $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) was not completed by the Fund. He maintained that former prime minister Imran Khan had pushed the country to default. The former minister said he had asked the government to impose tax on affluent segment of society for economic stability.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar denies the claims that Pakistan is on the verge of the economic default.
