Reaction to IMF board approval of $3bn loan to Pakistan

For more information and interviews contact Jerome Phelps on +44 7307 620372

The IMF has agreed to disburse a loan of $3 billion to Pakistan, following other new loans from governments such as China, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Abdul Khaliq, Focal Person at the Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt, Pakistan said:

“Pakistan has sought a bailout agreement with the IMF desperately, but it is not a way out of the crisis. The policies funded by the Fund have worsened Pakistan’s food and energy dependency and insecurity, increased inequality and reinforced the trend towards an authoritarian regime. A comprehensive debt relief followed by establishment of parliamentary Debt Audit Commission would be helpful to get Pakistan out of this worst economic crisis.”

Tess Woolfenden, Senior Policy Officer Head of Policy at Debt Justice said:

“The IMF is continuing to follow its flawed strategy of bailing out previous lenders, while forcing austerity on the people of Pakistan. This perpetuates Pakistan’s decades long debt crisis, which is worsening because of the impacts of climate change caused by rich people, such as 2022’s devastating floods. Instead, Pakistan needs debt cancellation from all its creditors, alongside grant based finance to cope with the impacts of climate change.”