PM Shehbaz optimistic on Pakistan’s IMF loan review, meets lenders today

NEW YORK: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Kristalina Georgieva and the World Bank Pre­sident Ajay Banga today (Wednesday) on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly session.

Addressing the media in New York on Tuesday, PM Shehbaz confirmed that the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was in the final stages of approval as Pakistan had accepted all its conditions — some of them being quite tough.

In this regard, the Prime Minister profusely thanked China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, saying this would not have been possible without their support. The premier said his government had accepted the economic challenge to the country and now, with collective efforts of the government and all institutions, it has overcome those challenges.

Earlier, Finance Minister, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, expressed optimism about the approval of the 37-month $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement for Pakistan today.

“Pakistan successfully concluded a 9-month Standby Agreement (SBA) with IMF and we have the IMF board meeting tomorrow here in the US. We hope the board would approve the 37-month 7 billion Dollars programme,” he said while speaking at “High-Level Private Sector Dialogue – CPEC-II and the Region”.

PM meets President Erdogan

On the sideline of the 79th UNGA session, Prime Minister Shehbaz met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wherein the two sides agreed to further strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, investment, defence, and security domains.

The two leaders also discussed regional and global developments, especially the ongoing genocide and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. They called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the end of hostilities.

Additionally, Prime Minister Shehbaz congratulated President Erdogan on his passionate address to the 79th session of the UN General Assembly that centered on the Palestinian crisis.

“The way the Turkish president highlighted the issue touched the hearts of all those listening to him in the Assembly hall,” he told reporters after the meeting.

In his emotional address, Erdogan said that the values of the United Nations system and the Western world were dying in Gaza as the conflict continued there, calling for an “alliance of humanity” to stop Israel’s aggression.

The Turkish leader strongly criticized Israel over its military campaign in the Gaza Strip and on the Western countries for their support to Israel.

PM addresses SDG Moment 2024 Meeting

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called upon the developed nations to help the developing countries come out of debt traps mainly caused by climate change-related natural disasters, he said while addressing the SDG Moment 2024 Meeting on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Session.

“In 2022, we had the worst flooding in our history due to climate change and that was not our fault. We do not contribute even a fraction of a percent in terms of carbon emissions”, the premier said.

He said the developed and rich countries were responsible for the emissions and they should take the responsibility and come to the help of the developing societies. “This is very important, otherwise this unbalanced, and unjust unfair system will lead to nowhere,” he stressed.

During floods in 2022, he said Pakistan had to face a loss of US$30 billion, and “yet we are asked to borrow money, to pay borrowed money and loans”. This vicious cycle of the debt trap, which he called a “death trap” will not help at all the developing societies.

Talking about terrorism in Pakistan, he said Pakistan faced terrorism in its worst form after 9/11 in which some 80,000 Pakistanis were martyred. “Finally we have been able to beat them (terrorists), but we lost US$150 billion in the process,” he added.

While highlighting his efforts to promote education, he said, “I have introduced multiple initiatives to promote education and empower those segments of society which could not afford education for their children, for example, Punjab Endowment Education Fund (PEEF) provides voucher scheme for girls and boys to get admission in schools in remote areas.”

The additional information was taken from state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.