Pakistan apprises IMF of plan to tackle natural disasters

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has apprised the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of its plan to tackle natural disasters following the devastating floods, which inflicted an estimated loss of $30 billion on the country, ARY News reported on Saturday.

In a statement, the global lender pointed out that Pakistan faces some of the highest disaster risk levels in the world.

“The incumbent government of Pakistan has chalked out an action plan to deal with the challenges,” the IMF said, noting that Rs30 billion will be spent on climate change, agriculture and food security.

The plan, according to the lender, focus on strengthening flood prevention and food security. “The country will get assistance from United Nations (UN) Environment Programme,” it added.

A day earlier, IMF Managing Director (MD) said its executive board, which gave nod to $3 billion stand-by agreement (SBA), was “skeptical” about Pakistan’s commitment to fulfilling the conditions of the agreement due to the ‘past trust deficit’.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva made these remarks during a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif following the conclusion of a $3 billion stand-by agreement (SBA).

During the conversation, the IMF MD said that PM Shehbaz built a very convincing case, though the IMF Board was “skeptical about Pakistan’s commitment to fulfilling the conditions of the agreement due to the past trust deficit”.

However, in the light of her continued engagement with the prime minister, she assured the Board that Pakistan will deliver on its commitments as she had personally met the Prime Minister and seen his seriousness to deliver.

She acknowledged the leadership shown by Prime Minister, underlining that there was strong partnership and mutual trust between both parties now. Terming Pakistan as an important member of IMF, she reassured to continue to help Pakistan.