IMF 'not interested' in releasing loan money to Pakistan: Miftah.

ISLAMABAD: Former finance minister Miftah Ismail claimed that the Washington-based lender is "not interested" in giving money to the cash-strapped nation.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Miftah, while speaking during a session titled 'Pakistan in the midst of crisis' organised by a private university in Karachi, said that when he was heading the Ministry of Finance, he spoke to the IMF officials and assured them that Pakistan would not make false statements or violate the agreement; however, when Ishar Dar was sworn in "he sabotaged the agreement".

He recalled that Pakistan has three times made sovereign commitments and has then gone back on them. "Now the IMF is not interested in giving money to Pakistan," he said, emphasising that the Washington-based lender doesn't trust the government in Islamabad.

Regarding the petrol relief subsidy announced by the government on Sunday, Miftah said that he believes this formula would not be effective. "We provide subsidies on petrol by taking loans," he said. Since the government announced the petroleum subsidy - which initially amounted to Rs50 per litre amount and was later increased to Rs100 per litre - several red flags were raised as analysts and economic experts have been criticising the move as it may...