Pakistan plans seeking $12 billion IMF bailout: UK Financial Times

[A.A. Khan]

HAhahaha
American comes barking for IMF. Americans of Pakistani background or bhagoras should not interfere or lecture Pakistani residents as its not their problem neither they share our problems.

@ziaulislam This puppet from Sesame Street is proof why overseas Pakistani should not have the right to vote.

 

[Verve]

Present IMF loans repayments to be restructured, plus no further loans from IMF.

 

[denel]

It's the only way for the 3rd world to, finally, get their heads of out of their behinds. A jolt, if you will. Tough conditions are a must imho.

Yes but not in this day and age. Ultimate responsibility is on the neck of politicians who bring the country down to their knees.

 

[SQ8]

Fair point,still seems a little hypocritical to consider such a huge bailout,why not ask iron brother china for bailout without the IMF strings.Anyway lets see if he has the guts to do the other thing he said he would - withdraw from war on terror and end pak logistics support to usa in afghanistan.

There is only so many times one will go to the Chinese.

 

[ziaulislam]

HAhahaha
American comes barking for IMF. Americans of Pakistani background or bhagoras should not interfere or lecture Pakistani residents as its not their problem neither they share our problems.

@ziaulislam This puppet from Sesame Street is proof why overseas Pakistani should not have the right to vote.

yeah your type of idiots is the proof why local pakistani should not be allowed to vote for
shair shair shair shair agaya...
apart from educated class of KPK, i doubt any one has iota of common sense

you need 20 billion dollars in next 5 years, 6billion dollars of which is IMF loan to be returned..now its upto you to decide, this is assuming IK will fix things, (if he doesnt than you will need approx 100 billion dollars(assuming 17 billion dollars requirement this year is extrapolated by 10% each year)

people like you forced quaid-i-azam to give up and leave the country after 40 years of struggle in 1937 but when you were screwed by congress you woke u p...now you have been screwed by PML N yet most are sleeping

Present IMF loans repayments to be restructured, plus no further loans from IMF.

this will be called a 6 billion bail out, there is no such thing as restuture
from what i am noticing that fresh estimae shows that team is confident of arranging half of the money from alternatives sources and will go for 10-12 billion dollars of IMF deal (6 billion if repayment isnot added)

now unless there is a poltical move by USA than i have no idea what will happen

the porblem is not IMF alone, its AB and WB too

 

[pzfz]

@BHarwana
BhaiJan Calms down...its too early to predict anything.
IK didn't yet have appropriate numbers on board to be PM, Let alone forms a govt. (He definitely gathers but ATM, None), IK/PTI is in honeymoon period....let's enjoy...how far it last.

IK had the numbers the second the elections ended. Keep up.

 

[ziaulislam]

even before the govt formed IK has done everything to engage multi donars, he has already successfully lobbied IDF to give 4.5 billion oil credit, china has cleared 2 billion, but he is still short of 10 billion

this is a chain reaction, investors will not pour money unless they are sure you have no problem, the only was to be sure is to have 20+ billion dollars by end of this year, this would mean investors will pour rest of money and you can pour in some bonds too at a lower rate

IMF is USA, saudis money

 

[jupiter2007]

Catch22 situation. We want to increase export but we some issues. We have no money, institutes and government owned companies were destroyed by previous governments. We can’t produce enough electricity because of that productivity is down. Other then China, no country is willing to do any major investment in Pakistan.
I think new government must renegotiated the loan terms with China. PMLN government took loans on terms favoring China.

 

[SunilM]

Pakistan to Decide on $12 Billion Bailout in Six Weeks

(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan may need more than $12 billion to halt an impending financial crisis and a decision on where to source the funds will have to be made within six weeks, according to Asad Umar, the incoming finance minister.

Umar, a former head of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corp., said the nation’s financing gap is estimated at somewhere between $10 billion to $12 billion, though the new government would need a bit extra so it doesn’t “live on the edge,” he said in an interview on Thursday. Umar also promised to make all Chinese agreements public after criticism of Beijing’s opaque Belt and Road loan terms.

“The decision needs to be taken in the next six weeks, the further you go forward the more difficult, the more expensive the options become,” Umar, 56, said in Islamabad, the capital. Pakistan could turn to the International Monetary Fund, friendly countries and issue diaspora bonds to bolster the nation’s depleting reserves, he said.

Pakistan’s deteriorating finances is a key challenge for new leader Imran Khan, as the ex-cricket captain attempts to form a coalition government after winning the most seats in last week’s election. Many investors and analysts now see a bailout from China or the IMF as inevitable. The central bank has raised interest rates, the current-account gap is widening and foreign-exchange reserves are dropping. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the nation’s outlook to negative last month and the nation’s currency has been devalued four times since December.

Umar said his Movement for Justice party hasn’t yet spoken to any potential lenders. “No formal work can be started until the government is formed,” he said.

Debt Blowouts
If Pakistan asks the IMF for support, it won’t be the first time. The nation, which has gone through decades of debt blowouts and balance-of-payment imbalances, has gone through 12 IMF programs since the late 1980s and the amount of Chinese loans given to Pakistan over the last 13 months alone comes close to the IMF’s last loan of $6.6 billion.

Those vast debts to Beijing have prompted worriesfrom U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said this week he would be watching to see if Khan’s new government uses IMF funds to pay off the opaque Chinese loans. Umar said he would bring more transparency to the more than $60 billion Belt and Road infrastructure projects in Pakistan and hit back at Pompeo’s comments.

“One friendly advice to the Americans, we’ll worry about our Chinese debt, but I think they better handle their own Chinese debt first,” he said. “We have a serious external debt problem, I’m not saying we don’t,” though “we don’t have a Chinese debt problem.”

With Pakistan’s finances under stress Khan may struggle to implement his plans to create an “Islamic welfare state.” The 65-year-old leader has been coy how he will fund his expansionist plans, though said in an interview last month that loans would be needed in the short term.

Reiterating comments made by Khan to Bloomberg last month, Umar said his party won’t attempt to privatize Pakistan’s bloated and loss-making state companies such as Pakistan International Airlines Corp. and Pakistan Steel Mills.

Umar said within the first 100 days of the new administration the state-owned firms will be shifted into a wealth fund similar to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pvt. to remove them from political interference. The government will also have to take over some, if not all, of the national airline’s 367 billion rupee debt ($2.1 billion) to start the carrier’s turnaround, he said.

Umar will face tough tests as he takes office amid the financial turmoil, an abrupt contrast to the generally rosy picture more than a year ago with economic growth reaching its highest level in a decade. That was aided in part by low oil prices, the completion the last IMF program in September 2016 and China’s infrastructure financing.

But that growth boom came with rising imports of Chinese machinery and other goods, widening Pakistan’s current-account deficit by 42 percent to $18 billion in the year through June. Surging oil prices are making matters worse. The central bank recently warned that “the balance of payments has further deteriorated” because of rising crude and investor inflows remaining limited.

“Whatever has to be done, has to be done in the next few weeks,” said Umar. “It should have been done six months back.”



©2018 Bloomberg L.P.

Bloomberg

https://www.bloombergquint.com/glob...-on-more-than-12-billion-bailout-in-six-weeks

 

[A.A. Khan]

@ziaulislam

Hahaha what an idiot showed his mentality and bias in one go. One can see how you are literally begging to make case for IMF rofl

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Pakistan election: Imran Khan looks at plan for $12bn IMF bailout
Haroon Janjua, Islamabad


July 31 2018, 12:01am, The Times

• Global politics
• Economics
• Asia
• Politics

Imran Khan’s party is 22 seats short of an overall majorityAAMIR QURESHI/GETTY IMAGES
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Imran Khan, Pakistan’s newly-elected prime minister, is set to approve the country’s largest bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Financial officials will brief Mr Khan on seeking $12 billion of support soon after he takes office.

Mr Khan, the cricketer turned politician, is negotiating with smaller parties to form a coalition government. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has 115 seats, 22 short of a majority.

A source in the finance ministry said: “Pakistan desperately needs financial help and at the moment an IMF bailout is the possible option.” In May, Mr Khan hinted that he would approach the IMF for loans if he won power.

The country’s foreign reserves of $9 billion are too low to cover imports for the coming months. Pakistan’s exports are declining while rising oil prices make imports more expensive.

Experts say that approaching the IMF, which is based in Washington, is a difficult choice for the PTI and one which would hurt Mr Khan’s political reputation.

During the election campaign, he made promises to spend on development and social safety nets which will be tough to fulfil in the greater financial crisis the country is facing.

Sakib Sherani, a former adviser to the finance ministry, said: “The new government will have to take a number of steps to contain the pressure on the balance of payments.”

Pakistan would need to approach the IMF with a well-thought out programme which would “complement new financing with initiating comprehensive economic reform”, he added.

PTI seems dont have an economic policy in long term.....atleast that what i got from listening to Shaukat Yousafzai

 

[El Sidd]

We do Not need Go for imf.

Why must we pick the most easy way out?

 

[Indus Pakistan]

PTI seems dont have an economic policy in long term

Really? And PML did? After 5 year term they have left the country in the worst condition it has ever been with massive debts and deficits.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Really? And PML did? After 5 year term they have left the country in the worst condition it has ever been with massive debts and deficits.

o babao watch the program first and read my comment fully to truly understand its wisdom.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Why must we pick the most easy way out?

Which is the easy way out.