Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf’s demand for an independent audit of the February 8 elections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may not find room as the global money lender has shown the desire to work with the upcoming coalition government.
PTI Senator Ali Zafar said that Imran Khan would forward a letter to the IMF and urge them to carry independent audit of the general elections before initiating conversations with Islamabad. According to Ali, IMF and other global organisations asserted the importance of good governance for loan facilities. The senator believed that due to unfair elections, the organisation would not lend a loan to Pakistan as it could burden the citizens.
In the current scenario, where the IMF programme would expire in April, the coalition government has to formulate long-term planning to keep the economy stable. However, a ray of hope emerged from the press briefing of Julie Kozack-Head of the Communications Department at the IMF.
While answering the question if Pakistan would secure the third tranche of the stand-by agreement, Julie Kozack replied that IMF look forward to working with the new government on policies to ensure macroeconomic stability and prosperity.
She briefed that IMF Executive Board approved the first review of stand-by agreement on January 11 after which the total disbursements reached $1.9 billion. Julie added that the agreement is playing its role in supporting the efforts to stabilise the economy. She further said that authorities maintained economic stability during the interim government.
When asked about responding to Imran Khan’s letter, Julie responded that she does not want to comment on the political developments.
As per the reports by Bloomberg News, Pakistan would seek a $6 billion loan from the IMF and initiate the talks in March or April. Note that the finance ministry and IMF have not responded to reports by Bloomberg.