Pakistan

Pakistan urges Saudi Arabia not to withdraw deposits given to SBP

Islamabad also seeks extension to Riyadh's oil facility, says finance minister

News Desk May 04, 2022

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said that the government has requested Saudi Arabia not to withdraw its deposits given to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and extend its oil facility for Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference in Karachi on Wednesday, he lamented former prime minister Imran Khan's government for making promises to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which were "against the interests of the nation". "Those promises are no less than landmines," he added.

He said that Imran Khan has left the fastest growing inflation in the history of Pakistan, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government took historic loans during its tenure.

The finance minister said that corruption was rampant during the tenure of the last regime. "Bushra Bibi's friend Farah Gogi and Shehzad Akbar left the country immediately after the PTI's government's tenure came to an end," he added.

He questioned why transfers and postings were done on the instructions of Farah in Punjab.

Miftah said that Imran Khan told the IMF that they will not take losses on diesel prices, adding that the former prime minister destroyed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). "Now, we are stuck with the promises the previous government made with the IMF."

Read Miftah eyes revival of IMF programme

He further said that the IMF delegation would soon visit Pakistan.

Last month, Miftah said that the IMF had set out five major conditions for the revival of $6 billion bailout package, including the reversal of fuel subsidies and the withdrawal of the tax amnesty scheme.

The other conditions are an increase in electricity tariffs, the imposition of new taxes and ensuring fiscal savings aimed at bringing down the projected primary budget deficit of Rs1.3 trillion to the earlier agreed limit of Rs25 billion surplus, he said while speaking to journalists.