Miftah: Pakistan to negotiate flood relief with IMF

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said the PMLN government will hold talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for relief in the loan program on the account of flood devastation in the country.

Speaking at a seminar in Islamabad on Wednesday, the finance minister also said that the government has no plans to lift a ban on the import of vehicles.

The opposition PTI recently urged the government to renegotiate the deal with the IMF to seek relief after floods devastated Pakistan’s agriculture-based economy.

Miftah Ismail said on Wednesday that the IMF was aware of flood destruction in Pakistan and it would not object to cash handouts of Rs25,000 per family to flood survivors.

He said that damages from the floods had not been estimated accurately so far and the government will open negotiation with the IMF after the floodwater recedes and the true extent of the destruction is understood.

Miftah said the floods may delay wheat sowing in Pakistan this season.

The finance minister blamed recent food inflation on the floods, which destroyed crops on millions of acres.

He said inflation will drop in September.

Miftah said that the government had to reverse a ban on the import of non-essential luxury items due to demand from the IMF and other world bodies.

However, he said, the government had no plans to lift a ban on the import of vehicles.