Govt not in hurry for IMF bailout package, says Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Wednesday said the government is not in hurry to obtain a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

In an interview with Bloomberg, he said: “We aren’t in hurry. We are covered even if it delays for two months.”

The minister said the bailout talks with the IMF will resume in a January meeting of its executive board.

“We still want to have the program,” he said. “But we’re not in hurry to have it. It’ll ease and open up other funding avenues.”

On Nov 20, the government and the IMF failed to agree on the terms of a bailout package with a final deal now expected by mid-January.

The country is negotiating its second IMF bailout since 2013 and talks were expected to conclude this month during a visit by an IMF delegation to Islamabad.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has also obtained short-term loans worth about $6 billion from historic ally Saudi Arabia. Pakistan’s staunchest ally China has also promised to help, though it is unclear how much Beijing will contribute.

Islamabad is discussing a bailout worth about $6 billion with the IMF, according to reports.

The IMF is pushing Islamabad to enact structural reforms needed to rebalance the economy, and rein in spending that has boosted growth but blown out the government budget. Pakistani officials fear this will further hurt economic growth.

The IMF last month predicted Pakistan’s growth, which hit 5.8 percent in the 12 months to end of June, will slow to 4 percent in 2019 and fall to about 3 percent in the medium term.