The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Pakistan about the increasing tension with India. The IMF has said that if the situation does not improve, the next installment of Pakistan’s 1 billion dollar (about ?8,542 crores) bailout program can be stopped. The IMF has called the increased tension between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terrorist attack a threat to the bailout program. Along with this, 11 new conditions have been imposed on Pakistan for releasing the next installment of the loan. Now the total conditions on Pakistan for the loan have become 50. Pakistan wants to increase the defense budget with the loan money. In the first review meeting of the bailout program, the IMF said that if the tension continues or increases further, then Pakistan’s defense budget can become a burden on the loan. It has already increased by 12% to 2.414 lakh crore Pakistani rupees. The Pakistani government is adamant on increasing it by 18% to 2.5 lakh crore Pakistani rupees. The IMF is considering this as a sign of misuse of funds. A loan of ?12 thousand crores was given on 9 May The Executive Board of International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 9 May gave a new loan of 1.4 billion dollars (about ?12 thousand crores) to Pakistan under the Climate Resilience Loan Program. Along with this, the first review of the aid of 7 billion dollars (about ?60 thousand crores) being received under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) was also approved. With this, Pakistan will get 1 billion dollars (about ?8,542 crores) of the next installment. With this review approval, a total of 2 billion dollars has been disbursed under the 7 billion dollar aid program. Pakistan will not get any immediate amount from the resilience loan. India said- Funding terrorism is dangerous In the IMF’s Executive Board meeting, India expressed concern over the funding being given to Pakistan and said that Pakistan uses it to spread terrorism across the border. India did not participate in the voting on the review, opposing it. India issued a statement saying – Continuing sponsorship of cross-border terrorism sends a dangerous message to the global community. It risks the reputation of funding agencies and donors and makes a mockery of global values. Our concern is that funds coming from an international financial institution like the IMF can be misused for military and state-sponsored cross-border terrorist purposes. 5 big points of India’s opposition… While releasing funds to Pakistan, the IMF said in its statement, Pakistan has made significant progress in stabilizing the economy and restoring confidence amid the challenging global environment through its efforts under the Climate Resilience Loan Program. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said, India’s efforts to harm the IMF program have failed. India had said- Before giving aid to Pakistan, IMF should look deep within itself. A day before the IMF meeting, on Thursday (8 May), India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had said that before giving relief to Pakistan, the IMF board should look deep within itself and keep the facts in mind. In the last three decades, IMF has given many big aids to Pakistan. None of the programs run by it have been able to reach successful results. What does the IMF Executive Board do? IMF is an international organization, which helps countries financially, advises them and monitors their economy. The core team of this organization is the Executive Board. This team sees which country to give loan to, which policies to implement and how to work on the world economy. It has 24 members who are called Executive Directors. Each member represents a country or a group of countries. India has a separate (independent) representative. Who puts forward his point in the IMF on behalf of India. Also, it sees that the policies of IMF do not harm the country. If the organization is going to give loan to any country, then give opinion on it from India’s side. ————————— Read this news related to Pakistan’s economic condition too… Today’s explainer: Pakistan has a debt of ?21.6 lakh crores, treasury empty; 11 thousand crores were to be received, India is going to stop that too. Every child of Pakistan is born with a debt of 86.5 thousand rupees on his head. Whether it is the import bill of oil and gas or the everyday expenses like salary and subsidy, the whole economy of Pakistan is running on debt. But now India can vote against the loan that Pakistan is to get from IMF. Read the full report…
