(July-10-2023) Saifuddin Sheikh, Executive Director of Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) said on Monday that the IMF still has concerns about Pakistan, due to which its team met with the leaders of Pakistan People’s Party and PTI to get commitment from them to abide by the agreement.
The IMF wants that whichever government comes to power in Pakistan should not violate the agreement but should implement it in letter and spirit, he said.
Due to this concern, the IMF team met with the leaders of two parties and the team was assured of full cooperation, he added.
In a statement issued here today, Saifuddin Shaikh said that the IMF, like foreign institutions and investors, is also apprehensive about Pakistan’s habit of breach of promises.
He said that the leadership of PPP and PTI have assured cooperation to the IMF team after which the loan tranche is expected to be released soon.
Pakistan is famous for violation of agreements in which the Reko Diq, IPPS, recent budget, and agreement with the IMF by the previous government are noteworthy, he remarked.
He said that due to these violations, few are willing to invest in Pakistan and if anyone wants to invest here, he needs incredible returns due to the risk. Moreover, the investors need sovereign guarantees to remain on the safer side.
Pakistan has also had to pay billions of dollars in fines due to breach of agreements and its reputation has been badly affected, but still this process continues.
Top officials sign agreements without properly reviewing it and later stop the implementation by declaring it against the national interest or scare the investors away.
Protection of the country’s interests is important, but all this is done before signing the agreements and not after the deals are finalised, he said.
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