‘No other option’ but to implement IMF deal: Pak PM

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that his government has “no other option” but to implement the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme to revive the cash-starved economy. He regretted that if the government wanted to give any subsidy in any sector, it had to go to the IMF ”which is a factor and a painful reality”, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Sharif as saying during a meeting on Tuesday. He said the coalition government never wanted to transfer the burden of price hikes to the people but added that the country would have to implement the IMF programme as “they had no other option”. The prime minister also said that the agreement with the IMF was blatantly breached by the Imran Khan-led PTI government in the past. Cash-strapped Pakistan revived a stalled USD 6 billion IMF programme this year which was initially agreed upon in 2019 but is finding it hard to meet the tough conditions of the Washington-based global lender. There are reports that the IMF may not release more funds under the programme until the pledges made by the government are met. Pakistan and the IMF had a round of engagement on November 18 but could not finalise a schedule for formal talks on the overdue ninth review. The IMF board in August approved the seventh and eighth reviews of Pakistan’s bailout programme, allowing for a release of over USD 1.1 billion. The much-needed bailout package from the IMF helped Pakistan avert an imminent default, amidst the persisting political uncertainty and the devastating floods that have displaced more than 33 million people. Shehbaz also said that they had devised a plan to immediately convert all the federal government entities’ buildings to solar power by April next year to slash the country’s fuel import bill of around USD 27 billion. Unveiling further details, the prime minister said that the procedures for conversion of solar power should be fast-tracked as they had set April 2023