ISLAMABAD
\nThe Shehbaz government is reportedly moving ahead with the \u2018Plan B\u2019 (The arrangement referred to by both Finance Minster Ishaq dar and his deputy dr Aysha Gahus pasha on several occasiojns) under which it is requesting the friendly nations to plug the up to $4 billion financial gap as the negotiations with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) aren\u2019t going nowhere.
\nWith the IMF programme set to expire on June 30, the government believes it can meet all the financial needs, sources say, if the countries like China, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia agree for additional deposits.
\nEarlier, Dar had said after presenting the 2023-24 budget that the government was working on a Plan B if the IMF did not release the pending loan.
\nHe had, however, avoided explaining or sharing any details, saying, \u201cPlan-B is always there\u201d. He stated that the features of the plan could not be talked about in public and again reiterated that Pakistan would not default.
\nSeparately, the finance minister had also said that those behind the running the \u201cReimagining Pakistan\u201d movement should stop frightening the people with the notion that the country would soon default, just hours after Miftah Ismail claimed that the budget was not sustainable.
\nAbout geopolitics, Dar had told the Senate Standing Committee on Finance that external forces were attempting to undermine Pakistan\u2019s economic stability by forcing it into a situation similar to that of Sri Lanka and subsequently negotiating with the IMF.
\nHe made it clear that Pakistan would not bow down to the IMF\u2019s demands of the IMF, which has raised objections to the country\u2019s budget proposals for the next financial year.
\nPakistan was a sovereign country and would not accept everything the IMF demanded, but rather aim to achieve the country\u2019s economic targets and priorities, he added.
\nThe suggestion that Pakistan has activated the Plan B comes as Associated Press in a latest report says the UN is stepping up the criticism of IMF and World Bank for benefitting the rich nations.
\n\u201cFrom the ashes of World War II, three institutions were created as linchpins of a new global order. Now, in an unusual move, the top official in one (the secretary-general of the United Nations) is pressing for major changes in the other two,\u201d the Associated Press said.
\n\u201cAntonio Guterres says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has benefited rich countries instead of poor ones. And he describes the IMF and World Bank \u2019s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a glaring failure that left dozens of countries deeply indebted.\u201d
\nGuterres said it\u2019s time for the boards of the IMF and the World Bank to right what he called the historic wrongs and \u201cbias and injustice built into the current international financial architecture.\u201d
\nThe IMF\u2019s rules unfairly favour wealthy nations, he added. During the pandemic, the wealthy Group of Seven nations, with a population of 772 million, received the equivalent of $280 billion from the IMF while the least developed countries, with a population of 1.1 billion, were allocated just over $8 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The Shehbaz government is reportedly moving ahead with the \u2018Plan B\u2019 (The arrangement referred to by both Finance Minster Ishaq dar and his deputy dr Aysha Gahus pasha on several occasiojns) under which it is requesting the friendly nations to plug the up to $4 billion financial gap as the negotiations with the IMF […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-338525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n