ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday that Pakistan's agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is being delayed as the global lender wants "friendly countries" to complete and materialize some of their commitments to the South Asian country.

Pakistan has been struggling to revive a stalled loan program with the IMF which would unlock a tranche of $1.1 billion, crucial for the country to stave off a balance of payment crisis. Pakistan's reserves have dipped to historic lows over the past couple of months, as it desperately seeks external financing to honor its global debts and sustain its economy.

Though the finance minister refrained from naming the friendly countries he spoke about, it is largely understood that he meant Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and China, all close allies of Pakistan.

An IMF mission visited Pakistan last month but after extensive talks with the government, left without signing a staff-level agreement. In a bid to fast-track the signing of the deal, the government agreed to fulfill more "prior actions" including the collection of additional revenues to revive the deal, and has been assuring the nation that the agreement would be signed “soon.” 

“At the time of previous reviews, certain friendly countries made commitments to bilaterally support Pakistan," Dar said during a session of the Senate. "What IMF is now asking is that they should actually complete and materialize those commitments, that’s the only [reason for] delay.”

Dar reminded fellow parliamentarians that Pakistan's agreement with the IMF was not one that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif 's government had entered into.

“This program was entered into [by] the previous regime in 2019 and this program should have been over by 2022,” he said, adding that it seemed the arrangement made with the IMF in 2019 was a “different" one and “a new program.”

“So, the delay is not on the part of the Government of Pakistan. It has been an extensive engagement: unusual, too lengthy, too long, too demanding, but we have completed everything,” he said.

When asked by a fellow senator whether the IMF was pressurizing the government on its nuclear program, Dar said Pakistan would not "compromise” on its nuclear and missile program.

“Let me assure you [...] nobody is there to compromise anything on the nuclear or the missile program of Pakistan — No way!” Dar asserted.

“We are responsible citizens of Pakistan, we represent people of Pakistan. We are here to protect [and] guard our national interests. Nobody has any right to tell Pakistan that what range of missiles or what nuclear weapons it can have. We have to have our own deterrence," he added.