Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday dismissed speculation that IMF representatives refused to meet with him at the Bretton Woods institutions’ spring meetings, explaining that Shehbaz Sharif asked him to delay his US trip due to the political atmosphere.
In a forceful address, Dar debunked rumors that the IMF compelled him to cancel his journey, asserting, “Pakistan is an IMF member, not a supplicant.” He emphasized that the IMF “cannot prevent me from attending the spring meetings.”
Dar was expected to participate in the World Bank-IMF spring meetings taking place in Washington from April 10 to 16. He was also scheduled to discuss the resumption of the stalled $6.5 billion program with IMF management.
Since January, Islamabad and the IMF have been negotiating the release of $1.1 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package agreed upon in 2019. To access the funds, the government has cut subsidies, removed a fictitious exchange rate cap, raised taxes, and increased fuel prices.
However, the agreement has been deferred due to pledges of additional funding from allied nations.
According to the finance minister, sworn in last September, these are routine procedures and a “constitutional crisis has emerged in Pakistan.”
Considering the Supreme Court’s April 4 decision, the Ministry of Finance bears a significant responsibility concerning fund allocation to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has been pressuring the top court to conduct snap elections in Punjab on May 14 after dissolving the assemblies in both provinces. This week, the apex court nullified the ECP’s decision on the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) elections and ordered the elections to be held.
Dar stated that the federal government must provide $21 billion for Punjab elections by April 10, as per a Supreme Court ruling. The finance ministry and the cabinet, which he is part of, “undoubtedly have a significant responsibility in this matter.”
“Considering these circumstances and the prime minister’s directives, I have chosen not to make a physical trip to Washington. This is not unusual. Virtual meetings were held during COVID. I will attend the World Bank and IMF meetings remotely from Islamabad.
Although Dar will not attend in person, a Pakistani delegation, headed by State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad and accompanied by Finance and Economic Affairs Secretaries Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, will be present.”
