Pakistan Won’t Be Going To IMF: Asif Ali Zardari
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 10:02 am
Pakistan will not seek an assistance package from the International Monetary Fund, but will ‘tighten its belt,’ the country’s new president Asif Ali Zardari said after being sworn in on Tuesday. Zardari, in a joint news conference in Islamabad with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, apologised in advance for the hardships people would face as a result of the austere measures that needed to be taken.
Some bankers have said they would welcome Pakistan entering an IMF programme, as it would help restore investor confidence in a country suffering deteriorating economic fundamentals and prolonged political uncertainty. The international bond market has already priced in a possible default. Goodwill towards Pakistan’s five-month-old civilian government, however, should translate into loans of billions of dollars needed to avoid a default early next year, analysts say.
The international community is keen to see democracy succeed in a Muslim nation that is on the frontline in the war on terrorism and whose support is crucial to the success of the Nato mission to stabilise Afghanistan. Analysts hope the government led by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a Zardari nominee, will act fast to avert an economic crisis now that the presidency issue has been settled. “Gilani and his cabinet will face up to the challenge,” Zardari said.
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