Pakistan officials meet IMF Chief for bailout; may have to disclose China debts for help

Earlier in the day, Lagarde had hinted Pakistan will have to produce a transparent account of its debts including those from China’s landmark Belt and Road Initiative for a bailout.

This handout photo taken and released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on October 11, 2018 shows IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) greeting Pakistan Finance Minister Asad Umar (R) at the Bali Convention Centre during the 2018 IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. - Finance ministers and central bankers from 180 nations are among 32,000 attendees in Bali for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank from October 9 to 14, which takes place every three years outside of Washington. (Photo by Stephen Jaffe / INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND / AFP) / -----EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / IMF / Stephen JAFFE" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

New Delhi: IMF chief Christine Lagarde and  Pakistani Finance Minister  Asad Umar met on Thursday where Lagarde said a team would visit Islamabad for talks on a possible bailout of its shaky economy, news agency AFP reported. Earlier in the day, Lagarde had said Pakistan will have to produce a transparent account of its debts including those from China’s landmark Belt and Road Initiative for a bailout. At the IMF and World Bank Group annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Lagarde had indicated that Pakistan could be forced to disclose the full extent and terms of Chinese lending it received in recent years as part of its participation in the Belt and Road Initiative. She said: "In whatever work we do, we need to have a complete understanding and absolute transparency about the nature, size, terms of the debt that is bearing on a particular country." As per Efe News, Lagarde added the IMF needed to understand the extent of the position of the debt, including lending from sovereign governments and from state-owned enterprises, so that officials could determine a country's debt sustainability. Earlier this week, Pakistan said that it would be seeking a loan from the IMF. The country has a ballooning trade deficit, falling currency and is quickly exhausting its foreign-exchange reserves. Experts say the country needs about $12 billion to cover its imports and meet upcoming debt payments. (inputs from agencies)