Ishaq Dar cancels US trip amid 'deepening political crisis'

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday cancelled his trip to the United States, citing the country’s “deepening political crisis” as the reason, ARY News reported citing sources.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was expected to visit US from April 10 to 16 to attend the upcoming annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

وزیر خزانہ اسحاق ڈار کا دورہ امریکا منسوخ#ARYnews pic.twitter.com/6HccUUzQmg

— ARY NEWS (@ARYNEWSOFFICIAL) April 7, 2023

He was scheduled to hold a separate meeting with the IMF officials regarding the removal of bottlenecks for the revival of the derailed $6.5 billion programme.

After Dar pulled out of trip, a delegation including Finance Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh and Economic Affairs Secretary Kazim Niaz will attend the spring meets of WB-IMF.

The delegation will hold talks with the IMF officials on the sideline of the meetings to woo them to release the next tranche to Pakistan.

Islamabad has been negotiating with the IMF since the end of January for the release of $1.1 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package agreed upon in 2019.

To unlock the funding, the government has cut back on subsidies, removed an artificial cap on the exchange rate, added taxes and raised fuel prices.

Yesterday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed that it has received confirmation from Saudi Arabia on $2 billion in additional deposits to Pakistan.