International community will not let cash-strapped Pakistan to become Sri Lanka: Media report
The Hindu
The IMF on July 14 confirmed that an agreement was reached with Pakistan, which is facing a serious economic crisis since last one year, to restore a stalled loan programme and also increased its size from $6 billion to $7 billion.
There is tacit coordination that the international community will not let cash-strapped Pakistan — as long as it stays on course — to become Sri Lanka, a media report said on July 15, days after Islamabad signed a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of $1.17 billion loan tranche that had been on hold since earlier this year.
The IMF on July 14 confirmed that an agreement was reached with Pakistan, which is facing a serious economic crisis since last one year, to restore a stalled loan programme and also increased its size from $6 billion to $7 billion.
The revival of the IMF’s bailout is likely to help the government overcome the economic crisis as the release of installment of loans from the fund will encourage other international financial institutions to engage with Pakistan.
According to The Express Tribune newspaper, background discussions with diplomatic channels have revealed that the international community was standing behind the IMF all the time and did not give any chance to the government to walk away from the talks by not extending any kind of cash assistance to Pakistan.
"All the friends of Pakistan had asked it to work with the IMF and the international community was constantly briefed by the IMF staff about the progress on the programme negotiations," the daily reported, citing diplomatic sources.
The disclosure by the diplomatic channels was also confirmed by the government sources, who told the paper that Saudi Arabia and the UAE had also advised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to first take the IMF route.