#Pakistan - Opposition rejects govt’s $6bn bailout deal with #IMF - #PTIMF

The two main opposition parties in the National Assembly, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), on Monday rejected the government’s bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

PPP leader Nafisa Shah said that those claiming to bring about change had only given inflation to the people. She said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had reached a deal with the IMF without taking anyone into confidence.

Meanwhile, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said that the opposition would jointly react to the government policies on the occasion of budget announcement in the National Assembly (NA). PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had shown his ineligibility by handing over the country to the IMF for only $6 billion. The conditions for bailout package would bring poverty, inflation and unemployment, she added.

Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan had reached an accord with the IMF for a three-year, $6 billion bailout package aimed at shoring up fragile public finances and strengthening a slowing economy. The deal, which still needs approval by the IMF board in Washington, would be the 13th such bailout since late 1980s. “Pakistan is facing a challenging economic environment, with lacklustre growth, elevated inflation, high indebtedness and a weak external position,” the IMF said in a statement, outlining the framework deal. The IMF forecasts Pakistan’s economic growth slowing to 2.9% this fiscal year from 5.2% in 2018, while the central bank has cut its estimate to between 3.5% and 4%.