David Lawder and Jorgelina do Rosario
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pakistan’s new Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told Reuters on Friday that he would seek to rearrange some U.S. dollars
In an interview, Dar ruled out Pakistan defaulting on its debt, extending the maturity of its December bonds or renegotiating Pakistan’s current IMF program.
The senior finance minister said that multilateral development banks and international donors have been “very flexible” in meeting Pakistan’s external financing needs, estimating around
Dahl, who attended the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank more than two weeks after taking office, said Pakistan will seek an equal restructuring of all bilateral creditors.
He declined to comment when asked if he thought it would be difficult to persuade creditor China, which has about 23 $100 million in debt, to participate.
But when asked if Pakistan would seek to reduce the principal of the debt, he said “Rearrangement is good, but we are not seeking haircuts. It is not fair.”
RUPEE DEFENDER
Dhar served as Pakistan’s finance minister three times – most recently from 2013 to 2017 – known as A staunch defender of Pakistan. rupee. He said Pakistan has not intervened physically in the currency, which has been hit by a strong dollar this year but has gained some 10 percent since he took office.
Dar said he believed the rupee’s “true value” against the dollar was lower than 200. The last transaction price is 219.
“I am a stablecoin, I am a real exchange rate. I am marketized, but not subject to
Borrowing options
be Asked if he had discussed with IMF officials the new Resilience and Middle-Income Sustainable Development Trust Fund from the IMF, Dahl said: “We have discussed all options.
Pakistan’s finance minister added that the IMF’s new emergency ‘food shock’ borrowing window could also be a good fit for the country, which has suffered from devastating Floods in 2019 may require importing as much as 500,000 tons of wheat next year.
“In this case, we have the possibility of approaching and entering this facility,” he said.
