Painful decisions ahead, warns Asad on return from Bali.
IMF mission due on Nov 7, CPEC not at blame for debt crisis. By khaleeq Kiani
ISLAMABAD: Finance minister Asad Umar on Saturday said the government will have to take difficult decisions that would be painful for people but necessary under international commitments to get out of the current severe economic situation.
Speaking at a nes conference after his return form Indonesia where he formally applied for the IMF bailout, the minister rebutted the narrative in the Trump administration that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was responsible for Pakistan's debt problems and the need for IMF bailout and said talks with Saudi Arabia for oil supplies on deferred payments were in progress. He said the government would have to make a stop-gap arrangement for external financial resources to support foreign exchange reserves until the IMF programme was finalized. An exercise for short-term borrowing was in the process for the prime minister's approval.
The minister said the US was a key stakeholder in the IMF with about 16.5 per cent votes but enjoyed no veto power in its decision making that required majority 51pc votes. he said no government in Pakistan irrespective of any political background could compromise on national security and the PTI government, too, would not opt for an IMF programme if conditionals are of that nature.
He was responding to a question related to comments by US State. Continued.
