Pakistan delegation, headed by Dar, held the first round of talks with IMF officials in Islamabad to explain the measures taken in the budget for 2013-14 to revive economic growth and to brief them about the state of economy during the previous financial year.
“Whatever the size of the loan package, it will have to be negotiated on Pakistan’s terms,” Dar said.
Since Pakistan has to repay $3 billion to the IMF during the next financial year, the already dwindling foreign
exchange reserves will certainly come under strain.
“We need loans only to repay the previous government’s debt liabilities,” Dar claimed, adding that his economic team was capable of steering the economy out of crisis over the next couple of years.
He said Pakistan had no option but to go for the IMF loan. He also ruled out reports about a ‘plan B’, saying neither can dollars be printed in Pakistan nor could these be raised from other sources to repay the fund’s instalments which will become due soon. Monitoring Desk
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