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The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (BALI, Indonesia), Christine Lagarde, said that a rescue agreement with Pakistan would require "absolute transparency" of its debts, many of which stem from the historic initiative " Belt and Road "of China.
"Whatever our job, we need to have a complete understanding and absolute transparency of the nature, size and conditions of the debt burden on a particular country," Lagarde said at the IMF's and the IMF's annual meetings. World Bank Group. in Bali, Indonesia.
She added that the IMF needs to understand the extent of the debt situation, including loans from sovereign governments and state enterprises, so that officials can determine the sustainability of a country's debt.
According to his statements, Pakistan may be forced to disclose the full scope and terms of the Chinese loans it has received in recent years, as part of its participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, the vast global program of foreign investment spending. infrastructure of China.
Beijing's spending spree has become a sore point in its tensions with Washington. US officials and lawmakers said they did not want taxpayers' money, routed through the IMF, to end up funding China's bailout.
Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, photographed at meetings in Bali, Indonesia, on 11 October.
Photo:
SeongJoon Cho / Bloomberg News
Pakistan announced Monday that it would seek an IMF loan. The country has a trade deficit skyrocketing, a currency falling and quickly depletes its foreign exchange reserves. Experts say the country needs about $ 12 billion to cover its imports and face the next payment of its debt.
Lagarde said she had not yet met with Pakistani Finance Minister Asad Umar, nor had he received an official request for IMF assistance. But Lagarde said the IMF would meet with the Pakistani delegation this afternoon and the IMF is "available to all its members".
Pakistan's need for an IMF loan has already been complicated by its ties with China. Pakistan has been the largest recipient of funds under China's Belts and Roads Initiative.
In July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that the US did not want IMF loans to Pakistan "to help Chinese bondholders or China itself" . Lending countries have money to pay Chinese companies for the construction of infrastructure that recipients can not afford.
The new Pakistani government had suggested trying to avoid working with the IMF, but recent turmoil in its stock and money markets left it no choice, officials said.
Increased disclosure of debts, such as those of China, will be a requirement, said Lagarde, who "will not only apply to Pakistan. This must apply to all countries.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at [email protected]
