IMF bailout: Miftah extols PM Shehbaz's 'personal commitment'
Pakistan
Clouds of default will recede: Miftah Ismail
KARACHI (Dunya News) - Former finance minister Miftah Ismail on Friday praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's "personal commitment and intervention" in securing the staff-level deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Taking to Twitter, Ismail said, "Great news for the country during Eidul Azha. A new $3 billion, one-year agreement was signed with the IMF. I congratulate PM, whose personal commitment and intervention, including speaking to the IMF MD multiple times, brought about this deal".
"We lost almost nine months in reaching this agreement, but the country is now firmly back on the right track," he added.
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) June 30, 2023
He added, " The minister, MOS, and SAPM of Finance, and the Secretaries of Finance, Revenue, and Power and their teams merit recognition. We lost almost 9 months in reaching this agreement, but the country is now firmly back on the right track," Ismail maintained.
- Renewed vibrancy in business climate -
The ex-finance czar said, "As I have been saying, a deal with the Fund is the best insurance we have against default. Now InshaAllah the clouds of default will recede, demand for hoarding dollars will slowly decrease, and there will be renewed hopefulness and vibrancy in the business climate.
- Fundamental reforms -
Stressing the need for fundamental reforms, Ismail said, "We must recognise that this IMF deal gives us yet another chance to make fundamental reforms. Unless we undertake these reforms, the country will remain at the mercy of multilateral lenders, and the people of Pakistan will continue to pay for the structural and governance failures of their governments".
