ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new government does not anticipate any significant currency devaluation as part of its negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to unlock billions of dollars in lending and bolster the nation’s economic reform agenda, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in an interview to Bloomberg published on Thursday.
While massive devaluations have accompanied some of Pakistan’s previous IMF loans and are often a condition of the crisis lender’s programs around the world, nothing comparable should be necessary this time around, Aurangzeb said in an interview on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington.
“I don’t see the need for any step change,” Aurangzeb said, citing solid foreign-exchange reserves, a stable currency, rising remittances and steady exports. “The only thing which can be a wild card, although in our projections we should be OK, is the oil price.”
He added there would be no reason for the rupee to depreciate more than the range of about 6 percent to 8 percent seen in a typical year.
Pakistan last devalued its currency in January 2023.
Aurangzeb, 59, said the new government in Islamabad was looking to bolster industries including agriculture and information technology with support that it hopes will help push the nation’s growth above 4 percent in the coming years.
In its talks with the IMF, Pakistan plans to seek a traditional IMF loan through the institution’s so-called extended fund facility. It also wants to get money via the IMF’s new Resilience and Sustainability Trust, which works to strengthen low-income and vulnerable countries against external shocks like floods that devastated Pakistan in 2022.
One of the new government’s tasks will be to steer the country out of a high-inflation and low-growth pattern. It also faces about $24 billion in external financing needs in the fiscal year starting July, about three times its reserves.
Aurangzeb said Pakistan was in “relatively good shape” to make those payments.
Pakistan needs to repay “a couple of billion dollars” in the present fiscal year but reserves are expected to reach around $10 billion by the end of June from $8 billion now, said Aurangzeb. The dollar reserves currently cover about two months of imports.
Pakistan expects an IMF mission to visit in May and would like to reach a staff-level agreement on its next loan by the end of June or early July, Aurangzeb said, without specifying how much the nation was seeking. Bloomberg News earlier reported that the nation plans to ask for at least $6 billion.
Securing a new deal may also boost Pakistan’s dollar bonds and stock market, which have handed investors one of the best gains globally since the nation began the current IMF loan last July. The IMF executive board is expected to approve the final disbursement this month from the nation’s existing $3 billion loan that helped it avert a default on its debt last year.
Key objectives in the loan negotiations will include broadening the tax base, improving debt sustainability and restoring viability to the energy sector, the IMF said last month. These are steps that Pakistan has avoided for decades because of their unpopularity among a nation of more than 250 million people.
Pakistan in recent years increased tax revenue and energy prices to meet IMF demands but hasn’t been able to make progress on long-term structural issues such as privatizing state-owned companies.
Pakistan expects to avoid rupee devaluation in new IMF talks — finance minister
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Pakistan expects to avoid rupee devaluation in new IMF talks — finance minister
- No reason for rupee to depreciate more than the range of about 6 percent to 8 percent seen in a typical year, Aurangzeb tells Bloomberg
- Pakistan expects IMF mission to visit in May, would like to reach staff-level agreement on new loan by end of June or early July
Government orders police to ensure ceasefire after nine killed over property dispute in northwest Pakistan
- The deadly and ongoing clashes over property dispute broke out on Wednesday
- Kurram has seen conflicts between tribes and religious groups in the past
PESHAWAR: The provincial administration of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Friday instructed police to take necessary steps to end ongoing clashes in Kurram district over a property dispute, with nine people killed and dozens injured.
Located along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, the area has witnessed deadly conflicts among tribes and religious groups in the past as well as sectarian clashes and militant attacks. A major conflict that began in Kurram in 2007 continued for years before it was ended with the help of a jirga, a traditional assembly of tribal elders.
The current clash over a land dispute broke out on Wednesday and quickly spread to several villages and nearby settlements.
According to an official statement circulated by the KP government, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur directed the district administration and police to ensure a ceasefire.
“No one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands or disturb the peace of the area,” Gandapur was quoted as saying. “The administration and police must ensure the rule of government and law in the area. The parties to the dispute are also urged to resolve the property issue through a jirga according to tribal traditions.”
Syed Mir Hassan Jan, the Medical Superintendent at the District Headquarters Hospital in Kurram, said nine bodies and 58 injured people linked to the clashes had been brought to the hospital in the last three days.
The District Police Officer in Kurram, Nisar Ahmad Khan, said sporadic attacks were still ongoing.
“The conflict intensifies at night,” he said. “Sporadic exchange of fire has been going on between the tribes during the past two days.”
Khan said a large number of police and army personnel had been deployed at various locations to prevent clashes.
“The jirga, district administration, army and police have intervened to control the situation,” he added.
The roads leading to Kurram have also been shut down since the clashes began.
“The entrances and exits were closed so that any third-party intervention could be avoided,” the DPO said.
Security forces kill militant in intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s northwest
- ISPR calls the slain militant a close associate of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a high-value target
- It says he facilitated a suicide bombing that killed seven Pakistani security personnel
ISLAMABAD: Security forces have killed a militant in an intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Friday, adding that he facilitated suicide bombings and was involved in target killings.
KP, which borders Afghanistan, has seen a surge in attacks on security forces, government officials and anti-polio vaccination teams in recent weeks. In a major attack in the province’s Bannu district, ten soldiers were killed when militants launched a coordinated attack on a military cantonment on July 15.
Islamabad blames the recent surge in attacks, including the attack on the army cantonment in Bannu, on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a proscribed armed network, which it says operates out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegations and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue for Islamabad.
“Security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the North Waziristan district on the reported presence of terrorists,” the ISPR said, adding that during the course of the operation, a militant named Razzaq was killed.
The slain militant was a close associate of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a high-value target, and remained involved in numerous militant activities in the area including the target killing of Malik Sher Muhammad, a local leader, earlier this year apart from facilitating a suicide bombing in March that resulted in the killing of seven soldiers.
The ISPR said a “sanitization operation” was being conducted to eliminate any other militant found in the area, adding that the security forces remained determined to eliminate extremist violence from the country.
Pakistan rejects Modi’s accusations Islamabad using ‘terrorism, proxy war’ to stay relevant
- Modi promised to defeat Pakistan’s ‘unholy plans’ against India on the anniversary of Kargil conflict
- Pakistan says India should reflect on its own targeted assassination campaigns in foreign territories
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan criticized the “belligerent remarks” of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday after being accused by him of employing “terrorism” in its eastern neighborhood to advance its strategic interests.
Modi’s comments came at an event to mark the 25th anniversary of a military conflict between the two nuclear-armed rivals in the Himalayan region of Kargil.
Both neighboring states share an uneasy relationship, with India accusing Pakistan of using militant groups as proxies to fight its rule in Kashmir, the Himalayan region both claim in full but rule only in part.
Pakistan has denied New Delhi’s accusations, saying it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination, though it has fought two out of three wars with India over Kashmir.
“Pakistan rejects the Indian Prime Minister’s belligerent remarks made in Drass, Ladakh on 26 July 2024,” the foreign office said in a statement.
“Bravado and jingoism undermine regional peace, and are totally counter-productive for resolution of long-standing disputes between Pakistan and India, especially the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir,” it continued.
The foreign office said such statements by Indian leaders could not deflect international attention from New Delhi’s “heavy-handed approach” to suppress the struggle of Kashmiri people.
“Instead of maligning others for terrorism, India should reflect on its own campaign of orchestrating targeted assassinations, subversion and terrorism in foreign territories,” it added.
The statement also highlighted Pakistan’s ability to safeguard its sovereignty, making a reference to the February 2019 downing of an Indian fighter jet in response to an aerial incursion.
It noted that while Pakistan was ready to “counter India’s aggressive actions,” it was committed to promoting peace and stability in the neighborhood.
Earlier, Modi said he wanted to “tell these patrons of terrorism that their unholy plans will never be successful” against his country.
India-Pakistan relations have been largely frozen as the two countries downgraded their diplomatic ties in tit-for-tat moves in August 2019 after New Delhi scrapped Kashmir’s special status and split it into two federally administered territories.
Ties were further strained after a suicide bombing of an Indian military convoy in Kashmir was traced to Pakistan-based militants, prompting India to carry out an airstrike on what it said was a militant base in Pakistan.
Earlier this year, Pakistan said there was credible evidence linking Indian agents to the killing of people on its soil — accusations that India termed “fake.”
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said last month that India would look for a solution to cross-border terrorism, which “cannot be the policy of a good neighbor.”
With input from Reuters
Government forms negotiation committee as Islamabad faces sit-in by religious party over inflation
- Jamaat-e-Islami workers have reached a key intersection in the federal capital to hold their demonstration
- They want the government to address the cost-of-living crisis, remove additional taxes in the federal budget
ISLAMABAD: Protest caravans of a Pakistani religious party entered the federal capital on Friday, planning to stage a sit-in against the rising cost of living and additional taxes imposed in the latest budget presented last month, as the government formed a negotiation committee to engage with its leadership.
The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party, led by Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, announced the sit-in in Islamabad to forcefully call for a reduction in the power tariff amid soaring inflation and to review Pakistan’s agreements with independent power producers.
The party’s caravans entered the capital from different directions, as the district administration closed the Red Zone — a sensitive neighborhood of the city housing top government offices and the diplomatic enclave — with shipping containers and all other main routes leading to the Parliament House.
“We are ready for negotiations, but don’t disrupt public life,” Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said while addressing the situation in a news conference.
He said the government had formed a three-member committee to talk to the JI leadership, which included him and two senior members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
“The government’s three-member committee will talk to you. Amir Muqam, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and I will negotiate with you,” he continued, naming two other members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
“Whenever you express willingness, we are ready for the negotiations,” he added.
Meanwhile, JI’s spokesperson in Islamabad said the party would continue with its protest.
“Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman will be joining the sit-in at Zero Point shortly,” Aamir Baloch told Arab News, mentioning a major intersection in the city where various key roads and highways connect with each other.
He said thousands of JI workers had already reached the area to stage the sit-in despite the government’s “brutalities.”
“The police have arrested dozens of our peaceful workers from D-Chowk,” he said, referring to another spot in the city located near the parliament building. “The government wants to incite the peaceful protesters through such strong-arm tactics. It will be responsible for any law and order situation if our workers are not released immediately.”
Police in the capital have deployed additional contingents, including its personnel with riot gears, to prevent any untoward incident. The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Express Highway has also been closed with the shipping containers near the Zero Point bridge where the JI protesters have gathered.
Baloch said the party leadership would announce their agenda after reaching Zero Point.
“One thing is for sure,” he continued. “We are here to stay and will definitely stage a sit-in to press the government to meet our legitimate demands regarding inflation and taxes.”
Pakistan Navy commissions advanced warship to enhance region’s maritime security
- PNS Hunain was inducted at a ceremony in Romania that was attended by Pakistan’s naval chief
- The Pakistani vessel is equipped with terminal defense and advanced electronic warfare systems
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Navy has commissioned its offshore patrol vessel, PNS Hunain, at a ceremony in Romania, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Friday, adding the move will help strengthen regional maritime security in the Indian Ocean.
Pakistan’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf attended the commissioning ceremony as chief guest which was also joined by Romanian Chief of Defense Staff General Gheorghita Vlad and other senior officials and dignitaries.
“The induction of the ship will further enhance Pakistan Navy’s maritime security capabilities, presence in distant international waters and operational readiness,” the ISPR quoted the naval chief as saying. “The induction of
PNS Hunain will further strengthen the regional maritime security patrol deployment in the Indian Ocean.”
PNS Hunain is a multi-role, ultra-fast warship equipped with terminal defense and advanced electronic warfare systems, anti-ship and anti-air warfare capabilities, the statement added.
The naval chief also appreciated the professionalism of Damen Shipyard and its management for providing modern technology to Pakistan.
Earlier this month, the Pakistan Navy assumed command of a multinational task force responsible for ensuring maritime security in the southeastern waters of the Middle East by operating in the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman and Gulf of Aden.
Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150) is part of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a 34-nation coalition aimed at promoting security and stability in some of the world’s most important shipping lanes, focusing on counter-terrorism, anti-smuggling and enhancing navigational security.
