Former prime minister Imran Khan believes that Pakistan cannot avoid reaching out to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an economic bailout any sooner. He said his party, if returns to power, will “have no choice” except to stick to the lender’s support.
When asked if his plan would involve sticking with the IMF, the PTI chief replied: “We have no choice now. If we get into power, we won’t have much time.”
In an interview with Bloomberg, the former premier minced no words while sharing his “radical plan” to shore up the ailing national economy with the IMF also having a part of it.
reappoint Shaukat Tarin as Finance Minister
During the interview the former premier said his government will have to make unprecedented policies in the country. Referring to the default like situation IK said “We fear a Sri Lanka-type situation”. He also said he would reappoint Shaukat Tarin as finance minister.
Views on Foreign Policy
The ex-premier reiterated his government would pursue an independent foreign policy “that doesn’t lean on any single country such as the US or China”.
He recalled that his government had an “excellent relationship” with former President Donald Trump, but the relations took a hit after Joe Biden was elected.
“It’s only when Joe Biden came along that for some reason I found that there was reluctance there,” he said. According to Imran, the Pak-US ties soured because Washington needed someone to blame for its exit from Afghanistan.
The Anti-Hero
Commenting on his rivalry with different political parties in the country, Imran said the entire political status quo was against him. “Right now I’m afraid, I have powerful enemies.”
He also suspected that the next general elections could be rigged to keep him out of power. “We know exactly who was responsible for the regime change that dislodged the PTI from power last year.”
The Prevalent IMF-Pakistan Fix
The conditions include the withdrawal of subsidies of electricity subsidies, rationalising of gas tariffs in line with prices in the international market, market-determined exchange rate and removal of the ban on the opening of LCs.
