AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-0.4%)
AIRLINK 129.53 Decreased By ▼ -2.20 (-1.67%)
BOP 6.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.15%)
CNERGY 4.63 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (3.58%)
DCL 8.94 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.36%)
DFML 41.69 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (2.66%)
DGKC 83.77 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.37%)
FCCL 32.77 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.33%)
FFBL 75.47 Increased By ▲ 6.86 (10%)
FFL 11.47 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.06%)
HUBC 110.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-1.08%)
HUMNL 14.56 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (1.75%)
KEL 5.39 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.26%)
KOSM 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-6.46%)
MLCF 39.79 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (0.91%)
NBP 60.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 199.66 Increased By ▲ 4.72 (2.42%)
PAEL 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.15%)
PIBTL 7.66 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.41%)
PPL 157.92 Increased By ▲ 2.15 (1.38%)
PRL 26.73 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.19%)
PTC 18.46 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.87%)
SEARL 82.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-0.7%)
TELE 8.31 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 34.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.12%)
TPLP 9.06 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (2.84%)
TREET 17.47 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (4.61%)
TRG 61.32 Decreased By ▼ -1.13 (-1.81%)
UNITY 27.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
WTL 1.38 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (7.81%)
BR100 10,407 Increased By 220 (2.16%)
BR30 31,713 Increased By 377.1 (1.2%)
KSE100 97,328 Increased By 1781.9 (1.86%)
KSE30 30,192 Increased By 614.4 (2.08%)

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed gratitude to a “friendly nation” for providing financial assistance to Pakistan even before the finalisation of a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the next tranche of the bailout programme, Aaj News reported.

“Our understanding was that the friendly country would chip in once the IMF deal is finalised. But to our surprise, that allied nation a few days ago conveyed to us that they were giving this [financial help] to us straight away,” the premier said while addressing a review meeting on the National Action Plan (NAP) in Islamabad on Friday.

He added that such gestures could never be forgotten.

“There are many such sincere contributions of theirs in the past for Pakistan,” he said, stressing that the country needed to put its house in order to come out of this situation.

“No one would come for Pakistan’s help if the country did not put its house in order,” the premier said.

PM Shehbaz said political stability is inevitable for economic growth.

“Unfortunately, a particular political faction is taking to the streets creating instability in the country.”

He said that the government had agreed on “tough conditions” set by the IMF because it put Pakistan before anything.

He said the coalition partners had put their political capital at stake for sake of the homeland.

“It is our paramount responsibility to play our role in course correction for the progress and development of the people of Pakistan and we accept this responsibility,” he said, expressing confidence that Pakistan will soon come out of the prevailing economic crisis.

The premier hoped that the deal with the IMF would soon be materialised.

Acknowledging Pakistan’s sacrifices in the fight against terrorism, he said around 83,000 people have laid down their lives.

He said security forces are determined to maintain peace and stability in the country.

Pakistan is currently grappling with a number of issues on the domestic front including rising terrorism and an economy battling a severe foreign currency shortage.

The low level of foreign exchange reserves has resulted in the currency hitting multiple lows this year.

Reuters adds:

Pakistan has to accept unwillingly the strict conditions of a deal with the IMF, PM Shehbaz said on Friday, to provide a lifeline for an economy in turmoil.

The PM was speaking to top security officials at his office in Islamabad in a meeting that was telecast live.

“We have to accept unwillingly the strict conditions for the IMF deal,” he said, adding an accord was still a “week, 10 days” away.

Pakistan has already taken a string of measures, which included adopting a market-based exchange rate; a hike in fuel and power tariffs; the withdrawal of subsidies, and more taxation to generate revenue to bridge the fiscal deficit.

Officials say the lender is still negotiating with Islamabad over power sector debt, as well as a potential rise in the policy rate, which currently stands at 17%.

The strict measures are likely to further cool the economy and stoke inflation, which stood at 27.50% in January.

Comments

Comments are closed.

Tulukan lavada Feb 24, 2023 07:22pm
China?
thumb_up Recommended (0)
Rizwan Feb 24, 2023 07:34pm
Don't try to be cryptic. Obviously that "friendly nation" is China. As if nobody knows.
thumb_up Recommended (0)
Hisham Khan Feb 24, 2023 10:58pm
Pakistan needs imran to stables
thumb_up Recommended (0)
Tulukan Mairandi Feb 24, 2023 11:12pm
China, and all they did was to defer the repayment of existing dues. Meanwhile thousands of Pakistan factories shut down due to FTA with China and CPEC. Fully dependent on China.
thumb_up Recommended (0)