ISLAMABAD March 20 : International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative for Pakistan Esther Perez Luiz has dismissed the speculation about any condition attached to Pakistan’s missile or nuclear programme for the ninth review.
In response to a query by a local journalist, Ms Esther Perez Luiz said the discussions between them had exclusively focused on economic policies to solve Pakistan’s economic and balance of payments problems, in line with the IMF’s mandate for promoting macroeconomic and financial stability.
She said, “Regarding recent speculation that program discussions with the authorities for the ninth review under the IMF-supported program may have covered Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, I want to be categoric that there is absolutely no truth to this or any insinuated link between the past or current IMF supported programs and decisions by any Pakistani government over its nuclear program.”
On March 17, Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had demanded from Pakistan to stop the long range missile programme.
Talking to media in Islamabad, while flanked by PTI leader Advocate Dr Babar Awan, Fawad Chaudhry had said the country would default if it did not receive money from the IMF.
He had said Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz was after inquiry into his tweet, while the economic experts feared that the country could default.
The former federal minister for information and broadcasting had said the current economic team could not reach a deal with the IMF. The country was facing economic crisis because of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he had maintained. “First Miftah Ismail ruined the economy and now Ishaq Dar is carrying forward the legacy,” he had said.
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