ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet was on Monday briefed about the salient features of the $3 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached last week.
While chairing the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was thankful to friendly countries including China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Islamic Development Bank and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help in clinching the IMF deal.
He said that the country will receive the first tranche of 1.1 billion dollars this month. He was especially appreciative of the efforts put in Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and his economic team as well as Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to reach the agreement with the IMF.
However, the prime minister was of the view that the agreement with the IMF should not be taken as a matter of pride but a matter of concern. Stressing for collective efforts, he said the government will have to give a future roadmap and policy guidelines so that this IMF deal proves to be the last one for Pakistan.
The prime minister recalled that ahead of the deal with the IMF, China provided roll overs of $5 billion to Pakistan. He said China has always helped Pakistan in difficult times and the nation will not forget this latest support.
He also thanked Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for committing $2 billion and one billion dollars respectively. He said that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir played a crucial role in securing financial assistance from the two Gulf countries. He said that during his visit to France, Islamic Development Bank also committed one billion dollars.
PM Shehbaz Sharif expressed serious concerns over the state of affairs of state-owned enterprises, which are costing Rs600 billion to the exchequer. He said the government will have to take decisions to put the country in the right direction.
The prime minister said Pakistan was faced with dire economic situation over the last fourteen to fifteen months. He said they will make strenuous efforts to improve the economy.
