Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has revealed that his party is developing a strategy to save the country from default if it comes to power by negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a “viable way of being able to pay our debts”. In an interview with the Financial Times published on April 12, Khan said that his party is currently working with economists to come up with a plan that would enable them to sit with the IMF and give them a viable way of paying the country's debts while also ensuring that the economy is not choked.
Khan's remarks come as Pakistan is currently in talks with the IMF to secure a final tranche of $1.1 billion since February, which is part of a $6.5 billion bailout package. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has given multiple assurances in the past few months that the deal will be sealed soon, and an IMF official expressed his confidence on April 11 that the deal will be signed “soon”.
Khan criticized the government for not being able to take the country out of the current economic crisis, saying that it “needed to break out of borrowing cycles that have held back developing economies”. He stated that Pakistan will struggle to break out of a cycle of debilitating debt repayments without reform and that his party would prioritize domestic reforms over seeking debt relief and ruled out a default if his party returned to power.
Khan's plans to revive the economy after coming to power include restructuring loss-making state-owned enterprises and boosting the tax base. He also stressed the need for reform in the way Pakistan is run, stating that the country needs to conduct "surgery" in the way its government is run.
Khan highlighted the issue of how Pakistan is going to pay its debts if the country’s dollar income doesn’t improve or increase. “Unless we increase our dollar earnings to exports, I don’t see how we would be able to service any debts in Pakistan — whether it’s Chinese or Paris Club or commercial debts,” he said.
In conclusion, Imran Khan's comments suggest that his party is taking a proactive approach to the country's economic crisis and is working on a comprehensive plan to address the issue of debilitating debt repayments. While the success of this strategy remains to be seen, it is clear that Khan and his party are committed to implementing domestic reforms and restructuring state-owned enterprises to boost the economy and ensure that the country is able to meet its financial obligations without defaulting.
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