ISLAMABAD – Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has approachedWashington to request help in getting an early loan dispersal from theInternational Monetary Fund, as inflation and debt all stoke fears ofeconomic collapse in cash strapped nation.
A report in *Nikkei Asia* quoting sources suggests that a top Pakistanigeneral held a rare telephonic conversation with US Deputy Secretary ofState Wendy Sherman earlier this week as deteriorating foreign reservesovershadow economic recovery.
During his call with US Deputy Secretary of State, COAS Bajwa urged theWhite House and the US Treasury Department for the quick supply of $1.2billion to Pakistan.
General Bajwa has reached out to Washington as the financial lifeline fromglobal lenders would be crucial for Islamabad’s economy buckling underpressure amid global price rise.
The development comes as Tariq Fatemi, a close aide of Prime MinisterShahbaz Sharif, was in the US to meet with the US Deputy Secretary ofState.
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Earlier, Washington-based lender IMF already granted Pakistan staff-levelapproval for the loan, however, the transaction will be processed after themultilateral lender’s executive board grants final approval.
Meanwhile, International Monetary Fund is going into recess for the nextthree weeks and its board will not convene until late August, the reportsaid, as the Pakistani currency is falling freely against the US dollar ininterbank trading.
