IMF Reviews $1 Billion Fresh Loans To Pakistan, India Abstains From Voting Citing Terrorism Concerns

The government's response came after the IMF on Friday reviewed the $1 billion EFF lending program and also considered a fresh loan of $1.3 billion for Pakistan.

IMF reviewed a $1 billion Extended Fund Facility and a $1.3 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility for Pakistan.

India has raised concerns at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over Extended Fund Facility (EFF) lending program of $1 billion for Pakistan, warning that the funds could be misused for state-sponsored cross-border terrorism.

 

The government's response came after the IMF on Friday reviewed the $1 billion EFF lending program and also considered a fresh loan of $1.3 billion for Pakistan.

 

"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today reviewed the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) lending program ($1 billion) and also considered a fresh Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) lending program ($1.3 billion) for Pakistan. As an active and responsible member country, India raised concerns over the efficacy of IMF programs in case of Pakistan given its poor track record, and also on the possibility of misuse of debt financing funds for state-sponsored cross-border terrorism," a government statement said.

"Pakistan has been a prolonged borrower from the IMF, with a very poor track record of implementation and of adherence to the IMF’s program conditions. In the 35 years since 1989, Pakistan has had disbursements from the IMF in 28 years. In the last 5 years since 2019, there have been 4 IMF programs. Had the previous programs succeeded in putting in place a sound macro-economic policy environment, Pakistan would not have approached the Fund for yet another bailout program," the statement added.

The government said that Pakistan's track record calls into question either the effectiveness of the IMF program designs in case of Pakistan or their monitoring or their implementation by Pakistan.