ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state minister for finance Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha on Wednesday described a statement by a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official as “interference” in domestic politics after he spoke about the necessity of maintaining the “rule of law” in the country.

Pakistan has been facing significant political turbulence since the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan from power in a parliamentary no-trust vote last year. The situation further exacerbated after Khan was arrested on graft charges on May 9 which led to violent protests by his supporters who torched government buildings and military installations.

The country’s civilian and military authorities launched a crackdown against the ex-premier’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, saying that some of its protesting members would be tried under military laws.

Discussing Pakistan’s progress in terms of unlocking a stalled IMF loan program, the international lender’s mission chief Nathan Porter said in an interview this week he hoped that “a peaceful way forward is found in line with the constitution and rule of law” in the country.

“I guess it is extraordinary what the IMF has said,” the Pakistani minister noted during brief media interaction in Islamabad. “The IMF usually doesn’t say such things.”

She maintained that “interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs was not part of the IMF mandate.

“The IMF should not include these extraordinary things at the moment,” she added. “As for the rule of the law, we have to move ahead as per the rule of the law. We are promoters of democracy and we want the institutions to perform within the ambit of the constitution.”

Pasha said any delay in the $6.5 billion loan program signed in 2019 was neither in the interest of Pakistan nor the IMF.

The global lending agency is yet to release about $1.2 billion to help Pakistan’s cash-strapped economy since last November.

“We firmly hope to get the IMF bailout,” she continued. “We are in the [IMF] program, and certainly there is Plan B. It’s not like the finance ministry is sitting with its eyes closed.”

However, Pasha pointed out her country was fully committed to completing the IMF program.

“We are not even thinking of a scenario without IMF,” she said while expressing her optimism that the country would reach a staff-level agreement before the new budget on June 9.

Pakistan is witnessing a major economic crisis amid declining forex reserves and rapidly depreciating national currency.

The country needs external financing, though the IMF loan program continues to remains stalled.