LAHORE: Pakistan is planning to seek a $10-12 billion loan from theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF), a government advisor said.

While talking to the *Financial Times, *one government advisor told “We arein a rough area and need help. I can’t imagine we could do that without theIMF’s support.”

The advisor went onto state the country would require a loan in the rangeof $10 to $12 billion, over double the $5.3 billion amount obtained fromthe IMF during the course of the previous bailout in 2013.

This will be the largest ever bailout Pakistan has ever obtained from theIMF if the agreement gets reached.

However, analysts cautioned Imran Khan would find it hard to deliver on hispromises of spending public money on giving access to health-care for all,expanding the social safety net due to the country’s economic situation.

The country obtained over $5 billion of loans from China during last FY18and a 20 depreciation of the rupee against the dollar to keep it afloat.

According to Western analysts, the local currency is still overvalued andneeds to further depreciate by 10 percent.

Pakistan’s forex reserves have eroded drastically in recent months, asrising oil prices have jacked up the cost of imports, while exports remainsluggish.

Analysts believe a return to the IMF is unavoidable and will have damagingrepercussions on short-term economic growth and Imran Khan’s politicalreputation.

Moreover, analyst say in demand for the IMF bailout, the Washington-basedlender agency will extract major concessions from the upcoming governmentincluding increasing power tariffs, reducing subsidies for the agriculturesector and divesting state-owned enterprises (SOEs).