With Pakistan in political turmoil, the economic woes of the country have multiplied. The International Monetary Fund’s $6 billion program has been stalled, with no possibility of the next tranche’s approval in the ongoing month, Pakistan daily The News reported.
Now, Pakistan will have to manage $5 billion as a bridge financing gap till June to avert a full-fledged balance of payment crisis and manage to deplete foreign currency reserves in case the program continues to be on hold.
After the IMF program hit the roadblock, Pakistan’s other creditors like the World Bank and The Asian Development Bank stopped the budgetary support and attached approval with the IMF’s letter of comfort, the website reported.
The Pakistan officials said that only three options are left now which include negotiation for a consensus on the memorandum of financial and economic policies, wait for the elections till July and then extend the IMF program beyond September or scrap the existing program and negotiate a fresh deal with the IMF with the new government.
