" IMF Se Taqreeban 70 Crore Dollar Milnay Ka Imkaan Hai.": Shoaib Nizami

ARY NEWS

Transcript

00:00 Q. Sir, tell me, what is the size of the delegation?

00:05 I read today that they will be in the country for 2 weeks, till 15th November.

00:11 So, what are the long-term discussions that will take place?

00:16 Sir, there will be 10 delegations, 2 of them will be from Pakistan,

00:22 while 8 of them will be from abroad.

00:24 Their mission chief, Nathan Porter, will reach Pakistan at 1.30 pm.

00:28 They met for the first time in the morning, in a introductory session,

00:32 where the Governor of State Bank, three ministers,

00:35 the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Finance were present.

00:41 There was no detailed discussion in this introductory session,

00:46 but we have certainly discussed the various issues,

00:49 especially the economic issues that we have given them the data.

00:55 After this, there will be 3 days of technical talks,

00:58 and the data will be collected from the first day itself.

01:01 All the issues will be covered, including the deficit,

01:05 exchange rate and the interest rates.

01:08 Sir, these are all very technical issues,

01:10 but in general, how much money are we expecting from IMF?

01:15 What is our shortfall at the moment?

01:17 How much gap are we trying to fill between the IMF and our own resources?

01:27 How much money are we expecting?

01:29 I will also try to fill the gap.

01:31 We are expecting around $710 million.

01:33 Let's go to him.

01:35 We are expecting to receive around $70 crore.

01:40 There will be 9 days of technical talks,

01:43 and the last 3 days will be of policy talks.

01:46 We will be meeting some of the objectives in the policy talks.

01:49 We have achieved all the objectives in our first session,

01:52 including increasing electricity prices, increasing gas prices,

01:55 and increasing the levy to Rs. 60.

01:58 We have completed this in the first session,

02:02 and we have increased the levy to Rs. 60 on diesel and petrol.

02:05 This is having an impact on inflation as well.

02:07 But now that we have set the conditions,

02:10 we are working on implementing them.

02:13 But there was a good point in our discussion with the different sources.

02:17 The talks that were stopped in February

02:19 were because Pakistan was getting a huge gap of $6 billion.

02:26 So this time, the chances of a conflict are very low,

02:30 and we can easily fill the gap.

02:33 As soon as our talks with the IMF are completed,

02:35 then our issues with the World Bank,

02:37 ADB, and the other infrastructure banks,

02:42 can be resolved, and we can easily get all the benefits.

02:48 Especially the role of the SIFT in terms of dollar exchange rates

02:53 and in terms of stopping smuggling,

02:56 has a big impact on the economy, which is very positive.

02:59 Shoaib, tell us, the IMF program is going to get another $710 million.

03:07 So the $710 million that we will get,

03:10 the Ministry of Finance must have told you

03:12 what are the purposes we are using it for.

03:14 So this money will come to the government.

03:17 So they, or rather, the elections will be held,

03:20 so the new government will get this money,

03:21 or the government will get this.

03:22 Because earlier when their press release came,

03:24 it was said that your program will have three parts.

03:28 One is the payment to the previous government,

03:30 the PDM government,

03:32 the second to the Nigran,

03:35 and the third to the upcoming government.

03:37 But the way it seems,

03:39 so this second part,

03:41 this too will be given to the upcoming government instead of the Nigran.

03:47 As soon as the talks are over,

03:51 they will make a summary and give it to their executive board.

03:54 And that board, within a month,

03:58 that is, by December,

04:00 will approve it and give it to the government.

04:02 Because now that the election date has come,

04:04 it will be easier for Pakistan.

04:06 Because the IMF, World Bank, all said that

04:08 Pakistan's economy will be stable after the election date.

04:11 And the growth targets will be better to some extent

04:15 because now the situation will be clear because of the election.

04:18 So because of this, it will be easier for Pakistan in the talks.

04:21 All the parts have been obtained.

04:24 And because of this, it is possible that the money that will come now,

04:26 will be given to this government.

04:28 And it will be used in the state bank account number 1.

04:33 So this government,

04:35 the PDM government had made an arrangement for the December elections.

04:39 So there will be no pressure until December.

04:42 And when the talks are over,

04:44 there will be another review in March.

04:47 Yes, Mr. Chaudhary is going to ask a question.

04:51 No, so now all the indicators of Pakistan have come.

04:56 And the agreement that the IMF had given,

04:59 more than 80% has been implemented on it.

05:02 The independent sources have also confirmed it.

05:06 So we have no reason that the IMF should not give the remaining cash to Pakistan.

05:12 Or the Pakistan economy should not move in the right direction.

05:17 Today the dollar is down.

05:19 Today the petroleum prices are coming down.

05:22 And many other indicators have come,

05:25 which seems that the country is moving towards some economic recovery.

05:32 So I don't think that in the face of international situation,

05:36 the IMF should create a new situation for Pakistan.

05:40 You are right.

05:42 It is possible that there are issues of growth.

05:45 Because in the first agreement,

05:47 we had to spend about 230 billion rupees for the development program.

05:50 We have spent only 40 billion.

05:52 Similarly, the surplus of our resources should have been 187 billion rupees.

05:58 But it has only been 51 billion rupees.

06:01 But on the other hand, we have cut our main expenditure on the development program,

06:06 and by cutting it, our deficit has improved.

06:09 So this is also a good sign.

06:11 But this will affect our growth.

06:14 And the expenditure that we have set as growth targets,

06:16 will be affected.

06:18 Now let's see if the IMF says that they should spend on PDV,

06:22 especially on the projects that are close to completion,

06:25 to complete them so that the public can get some peace.

06:28 The projects that are stuck in the middle and people are not building bridges.

06:32 Okay, Shoaib, tell me that the international media I was watching in the morning,

06:36 the media is reporting that because of the Middle East,

06:39 the crisis that Israel has created,

06:41 the barbarism that is being perpetrated against the Palestinians,

06:45 if this conflict is not resolved in the coming days,

06:49 then international air prices will increase.

06:51 In this respect, I am seeing that it was expected in Pakistan

06:55 that the prices will be reduced a little, but they have been stopped.

06:59 So what do you think is the impact of that?

07:02 In general, the question is that in Pakistan,

07:05 you are expecting a reduction in inflation in the coming weeks and months,

07:10 because of the IMF talks and the international crisis that is building up.

07:16 Because God forbid, if the oil prices increase,

07:20 then we will come back to square one.

07:23 Sir, the World Bank has a very scary report in which they have rang the bells of danger.

07:28 They are saying that the effects of the Russian and Ukrainian wars on global inflation are still present.

07:35 And if the situation was good, then maybe the prices would have been reduced by 2024-2025,

07:39 and we would have seen that the prices would have been stable.

07:43 But because of this, the prices of oil have increased by almost $7 per barrel.

07:48 Similarly, the exchange rate of our dollar has also increased by about 5 to 6 rupees.

07:52 So these are all the countries where the international economy of Pakistan,

07:56 especially the economy of Pakistan, is being affected.

07:59 Okay, Shoaib, we will continue with you on this topic.

08:02 Obviously, the IMF delegation is present in Pakistan.

08:04 That's all for today.

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