IMF Executive Board to meet in Washington today

WASHINGTON (92 News) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board will meet in Washington on Thursday (today) for approving third installment of loan to Pakistan. The meeting will also approve an additional $40 billion package to prevent form current corona’s situation and economic pressure. With the approval of package, the total program for Pakistan will increase from $6 billion to $7 billion 40 million. Earlier, PM Imran Khan has called for a “Global Initiative on Debt Relief” in wake of coronavirus pandemic. In a message broadcast to international community, the prime minister said COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented health and economic challenges. He expressed fear that global recession might be worse than the great depression. PM Khan stressed that a global pandemic cannot be contained without strong, coordinated and well-crafted global response. He invited the UN secretary general to work with him in advancing the objectives of a coordinated response. He cautioned that the pandemic’s socio-economic impacts would be more consequential in the developing countries. While proposing the Initiative, Imran Khan highlighted that his government has provided an 8 billion US dollars stimulus package to help the most vulnerable Pakistanis. Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed to remove loans of developing countries. He said that the coronavirus could destroy the economy of developing countries, the world would think about waiving off the debts of Pakistan and other developing countries.