LAHORE:
Former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan has been reassured that general elections in Pakistan will be held on schedule by a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On Friday, Mission Chief Nathan Porter joined a meeting between the PTI leader and World Bank representatives at the PTI leader’s Zaman Park home in Lahore.
The ex-prime minister backed the current bailout agreement with the IMF.
The international financial institution announced that it was lobbying major political parties, including the PTI, to back its new nine-month, $3 billion stand-by arrangement and accompanying policies ahead of the general elections this fall.
The ex-prime minister wanted to know if the international lender could ensure that elections in Pakistan would be held on schedule.
The IMF delegation promised the PTI chairman that elections in Pakistan would be held on time and in accordance with the Constitution, and that the organization was keeping a careful eye on the situation there.
The delegation noted that it had no way of knowing what stance the IMF Executive Board would take on Pakistan’s political concerns, and that the directors of the board would maintain their point of view in the meeting.
The delegation reportedly assured the executive board that their views would be incorporated in the IMF staff report and that the board members were allowed to express their opinions.
previous finance minister and PTI leader Hammad Azhar tweeted that the previous premier and his economic team had discussed the agreement reached between the IMF and the government at the staff level last week.
Over the course of the meeting’s hour-plus duration, “discussions took place around the staff-level agreement that the IMF has reached with the government of Pakistan for a nine-month $3 billion stand-by arrangement and in this context, we support the overall objectives and key policies,” the PTI leader said.
Before the national elections scheduled for this fall and until a new administration is elected, we are pleased with the SBA’s efforts to maintain macroeconomic stability through anchoring foreign financing and prudent policies.
In addition, he emphasized the significance of anti-inflation programs aimed at helping those on lower incomes.
The discussions with political parties were to “seek assurances of their support for the key objectives and policies under a new IMF-supported programme ahead of the approaching national elections,” as stated earlier by IMF Resident Representative Esther Perez Ruiz in a statement.
