iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
What can you do if you have been told to leave your apartment?
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Pakistan to seek IMF bailout to overcome financial crisis
The government has decided to approach the IMF for stabilisation and economic recovery.
"The government has decided to approach the IMF for stabilisation and an economic recovery programme," said the Finance Ministry in a statement after the stock market suffered an over 1,300-point plunge, losing almost 270 billion Pakistani rupees ($2 billion) of its capitalisation - the highest single-day loss in a decade.
The market capitalisation is estimated to have shrunk by almost half a trillion rupees during the current month as the 100-index dropped to a 10-month low.
The decision to seek a bailout comes after Prime Minister Imran Khan sought alternatives to the IMF, but without success.
Pakistan had a trade deficit of $17.99 billion in the last financial year (July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018), which was $12.4 billion in 2016-17 and $4.9 billion the year before that, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
The country's fiscal deficit stands at 6.6 per cent of its gross domestic product.
Pakistan's foreign currency reserves have fallen to $9 billion, half of what they were two years ago, according to the State Bank of Pakistan, despite GDP growth of 5.8 per cent, the highest in a decade, reports Efe news.
The situation is similar to 2013, when after the elections, the new government in Pakistan obtained $5.3 billion from the IMF to reinvigorate its ailing economy.
Pakistan paid back the loan in October last year, marking the first time in its history it repaid the IMF in full.
If the negotiations are a success, it would be the 13th IMF package for Pakistan.
More news from
He arrived at Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport on Sunday morning
One has been arrested while two are still at large; all three have been fined Dh5,000 jointly
The number of people currently undergoing enforcement procedures are 15,782, according to the Kingdom's Ministry of Interior
The Washington DC-based reporter was attacked while covering a protest by separatists
According to the law, recirculating false data or inciting public opinion can fetch you up to two years in prison
They have been sentenced to three months in prison followed by deportation
The Honduran foreign minister travelled to China this week to open relations after President Xiomara Castro said her government would start ties with Beijing