Islamabad: Pakistan’s army chief has asked the United States to help get $1.17 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as soon as possible. Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa discussed this with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. After the news regarding this was published, there was excitement in Pakistan. Opposition Leader Imran Khan has accused that if this matter is true, it means that Pakistan has become weak. Pakistan’s coffers are left with foreign exchange enough to pay only for two months of imports. It also includes funds given by countries like Saudi and China in the form of deposits. In such a situation, it is imperative to provide credit to Pakistan as soon as possible for imports. $1.17 billion from the package announced by the IMF was to be disbursed to Pakistan soon. Army Chief General Bajwa had to use his weight to get this fund to Pakistan as soon as possible. He discussed with US Deputy Minister Wendy Sherman and demanded that this amount should be given to Pakistan immediately.
The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan has admitted a discussion between General Bajwa and Sherman. But the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs refused to give details. However, the discussion issues between General Bajwa and Wendy Sherman have come to the fore in the Pakistan media. It seems that this has created excitement in this country. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan severely criticized this.
Imran Khan blamed that if General Bajwa had discussed this with the US, then Pakistan would have become weak. Imran Khan has also criticized that interfering in the country’s economy is not the job of army chiefs. Pakistan’s media is also expressing displeasure over General Bajwa’s talks with the US. But these media also have to admit that Pakistan will not survive without the loan assistance of the Monetary Fund.
The IMF had approved a loan assistance of about $6 billion to Pakistan. But it is becoming difficult for the Government of Pakistan to implement the conditions set by the IMF. While announcing the loan, the IMF had demanded that the concessions given to the public should be cancelled, and the fuel and electricity rates should be increased to increase government revenue. But the government of Pakistan lacks the conviction to accept these demands. Also, the government of Imran Khan, who was in power before this, wasted a lot of time on whether to take a loan from the IMF or not.
This confusion on the economic front is intensifying the crisis in Pakistan. This country’s journalists and analysts are expressing concerns that the situation of their country will not be any way different from Sri Lanka in the coming times.
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