*WASHINGTON: * Pakistan’s de-facto Finance Minister, Dr. Miftah Ismailapprised U.S officials in a meeting in Washington on Thursday that Pakistanwasn’t seeking any fresh bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Dr. Ismail who is on a tour to Washington to attend the spring meetingsbeing conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), also heldbilateral talks with U.S officials, reported *Dawn.*
He apprised the U.S officials, the incumbent government had no plans forseeking a bailout from the IMF, as it had adequate resources for meetingits expenses over the coming six months.
Adviser to PM on Finance also held meetings with IMF, World Bank and U.Sofficials in which the government’s fiscal policies were brought forth anddiscussed.
Previously, World Bank, IMF and U.S officials had urged the authorities torevise its fiscal policies as it felt the rupee was overvalued.
During these meetings, the Pakistani delegation highlighted since Decemberlast year, Islamabad had allowed the rupee to depreciate by 9.25 percentagainst the dollar, in two steps.
They also shared with their fellow delegates from WB, IMF, and U.S sidethat the rupee was no longer overvalued, but Pakistan was ready to keep onmonitoring the exchange rate if needed.
But the Pakistani side admitted the trade gap and current deficit wereproblems that required more attention as did national savings.
On the national savings front, the Pakistani team said the government wasworking on plans to enhance it to 16 percent.
The fall in remittances which had impacted Pakistan’s economy was alsodiscussed during the meetings. The Pakistani team highlighted globalremittances were again rising, which would be good for the country.
In response to the huge difference between imports ($45 billion) andexports ($21 billion), the Pakistani side said much of this gap existedbecause of capital goods which would medium- to long-term benefits for thecountry’s economy.