Pakistan likely to face Sri Lanka-like crisis, warns Imran Khan

LAHORE: Former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has warned that Pakistan is likely to face Sri Lanka-like economic crisis in the coming days, ARY News reported on Friday.

While addressing lawyers via video link in Lahore, Imran Khan expressed fear that the country would be running out of funds for purchasing oil like Sri Lanka.

Criticising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he said that the rulers kept marketing the issues of flood victims and lost their dignity by acting like beggars before the world. He also slammed PM Sharif by saying that the current premier faced embarrassment after offering friendly ties with India through dialogues.

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Expressing grave concerns over the deteriorated economic situation, Imran Khan said that Pakistan’s default risk increased by up to 90% from 5% in April 2022.

He was of the view that Pakistan is not in a position to bargain with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid the prevailing situation. He said that IMF would only provide loans to Pakistan if the government accepts its strict conditions which will increase the inflation by up to 50%.

He added that the country ran out of funds to open letters of credit (LCs) and the whole world is warning about the Sri Lanka-like crisis in Pakistan.

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Khan said that the country has not faced such a crisis in the past. He alleged that the current economic crisis is a man-made crisis and the government is still expecting financial assistance from China and Saudi Arabia.

Yesterday, Imran Khan said that his political party’s vote bank will not be affected by his disqualification as the people will vote for his party’s narrative.

Imran Khan, while talking to senior journalists, said that Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) failed to deliver to the Pakistanis on all fronts. He directly blamed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for intensifying the crises.

He said that voices are being raised within the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N). “I still have many cards to surprise the PDM. The dissolution of the Punjab Assembly was a brilliant stroke against the PDM which will be remembered for decades.”