IMF

Amid escalating political tensions after the arrest of Imran Khan, resulting in a serious law and order situation in Pakistan, the economic sector has been hit by yet another serious damage as the rupee felt the heat and melted down by at least 3 per cent pushing its value against the US dollar to a record-high Rs 298.93 in the inter-bank.

When questioned about the government's approach to the budget in the event of a failure to reach a deal with the IMF, the minister said that the US and other Western powers should bear in mind that Pakistan's dependence on China would intensify, Dawn reported.

The Shehbaz Sharif-led government has been struggling to convince the IMF board on its compliance of all the pre-conditions for the revival of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which has led to a delay in the signing of the staff level agreement, causing serious damage to the country's economic condition.

"It is important that the US restores -- for Pakistan -- Foreign Military Financing and Foreign Military Sales, suspended by the previous administration," Dawn news quoted Islamabad's envoy to the US Masood Khan as saying said at a seminar in Washington on Thursday. US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South.

The statement came from IMF Mission Chief to Pakis tan Nathan Porter, a day after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced the confirmation of $1bn in bilateral financial support to Pakistan, believed to be the last prior action for staff-level agreement with the global lender, Dawn reported.

"We have received an indication from Saudi Arabia about getting something," Dr Aisha Pasha, the Minister of State for Finance, said after attending a meeting of a parliamentary committee, without explaining the loan amount, The Express Tribune reported. She also informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance that some progress was made a day earlier on a friendly country deposit, saying, "we will soon reach the stage to sign the Staff-Level Agreement with the IMF".

"We emphasize the importance of anti-corruption and governance reforms as a central pillar of the EFF-supported program-they are indispensable to ensure the hard-won gains from the reforms benefit the Sri Lankan people," Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, and Masahiro Nozaki, Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, Asia and Pacific Department, said in a joint statement.

IMF resident representative in Islamabad Esther Perez Ruiz denied attaching any strings to the External Fund Facility (EFF), Geo News reported. Regarding recent speculation that programme discussions with the authorities for the ninth review under the IMF supported programme may have covered Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

Addressing a press conference, Qureshi said that the finance minister is the 'in-law' of the ruling party and his statement on the floor of the Senate is important, Geo News reported. "This statement has created a new crisis in the country," said former Foreign Minister Qureshi, adding that the foreign office spokesperson had to clarify during her weekly press briefing, the report said.

Speaking at the special Senate session in front of foreign ambassadors, Dar said Pakistan has its own deterrence and would not allow any external entity or institution to decide on what kind of missiles the country can have. "Nobody has any right to tell Pakistan what range missiles it can have and what nuclear weapons it can have. We have to have our own deterrence," said Ishaq Dar.