A day after the Pakistani rupee drowned to its lowest-ever level against the US dollar (PKR 255.43 = $1), Islamabad has been forced to push for unlocking the stalled $6.5 billion loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Pakistan’s balance of crisis is now attributed to be hanging towards chronic levels than the acute ones as was being reported before. It is now left with less than three weeks’ worth of import cover in its forex reserves. They declined another $923 million to $3.68 billion, according to the news agency Reuters.
Pakistan recorded a low of 240 rupees against a dollar in July 2022, at the height of devastating floods that the country faced.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s central bank too has raised its interest rates to a 24-year high in a bid to control the inflation.
This, added with the burden of external debt, has made the Pakistani economic forecast the worst in recent history.
How does Pakistan expect to manage this crisis?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will send a mission to Islamabad before the end of January. The IMF will decide if Pakistan will be given the remaining tranches of the $6 billion bailout that Islamabad availed in 2019 under former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Islamabad has practically surrendered to the IMF conditions for the revival of the loan programme amid fast-dwindling central bank reserves, The Dawn reported.
The government has met the key pre-conditions of the fund including a market-based dollar-rupee exchange parity and high-interest rate and is likely to impose 17pc general sales tax on diesel and petrol within a week, it added.
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
For all the latest business News Click Here
