IMF refutes Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s claims of being dialed by its MD

According to The Express Tribune, the resident representative of the IMF – Esther Perez – confirmed, “The call took place in response to a request by the Prime Minister of Pakistan to discuss the International Conference on resilient Pakistan.”

Earlier on Friday, an official handout was released by Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s office, saying, “The IMF managing director called premier Shehbaz on the phone.”

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The following incident took place after PM Sharif’s speech at the Hazara Electric supply company’s inauguration ceremony. In his speech too, Sharif claimed that IMF’s MD had contacted him.

Despite risking sovereign default with only $4.5 billion foreign exchange reserves in hand, the Pakistan government doesn’t seem to be ready to mend its ways as it makes questionable claims of strength.

As IMF’s delegation will meet Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of a conference in Geneva beginning on 9 January, the factually incorrect statements may create more problems for Pakistan to convince the IMF.

“The IMF delegation is expected to meet with Finance Minister (Ishaq) Dar on the sidelines of the Geneva conference to discuss outstanding issues and the path forward,” a spokesperson of the IMF said in a message to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and the United Nations are holding a major conference in Geneva on Monday, aiming at marshalling support to rebuild the country after devastating floods.

Most of the waters have now receded but the reconstruction work, estimated at around $16.3 billion, to rebuild millions of homes and thousands of kilometres of roads and railway is just beginning and millions more people may slide into poverty.

With agency inputs.