In light of the uncertainty surrounding the revival of the $6.5 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which was initially signed in 2019 and is set to expire by the end of this month, the nation is in desperate need of additional funds.
KARACHI PORT
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan needs to make a deal with the UAE to give them control of the terminals at the Karachi port because it doesn’t have much money. They are doing this because they need to find a quick way to get money in case the IMF doesn’t give them the loan they were hoping for. The terms of this deal will be negotiated by a committee.
On Monday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar led a meeting about buying and selling things between different parts of the government. The group had a discussion and decided to create a team that will talk with the UAE government about making a deal with the Karachi Port Trust (KPT).
The negotiation committee was able to come up with a strategy for taking over the Karachi port terminals with a group from the United Arab Emirates, as was decided at the meeting. How to use, care for, invest in, and develop the port is the focus of this plan.
The group that completes a plan that is referred to as the framework agreement will be led by Faisal Sabzwari, the Minister for Maritime Affairs. Important individuals from the Finance, Foreign Affairs, and Prime Minister’s Office make up the committee. The committee also includes the Chairman of Karachi Port Terminal and some of its managers. The UAE wanted to acquire the Pakistan International Containers Terminals (PICT)-managed Karachi port terminals last year. This committee might use a new law that was made to get money quickly in times of emergency to make the first deal between different governments.
The Intergovernmental Commercial Transactions Act was enacted by Pakistan’s political leaders in the previous year. The government can quickly sell their possessions under this law to make money.
The country needs more money, but it’s not sure if it will get it from an agreement it made with the IMF in 2019 that’s about to expire. When negotiating a deal with the UAE, the government must exercise extreme caution. This deal is unique to our previous endeavours, and the company’s departure is complicating matters.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with important countries’ ambassadors to get their support for restarting the stalled IMF deal. The USD 6.5 billion packages, which were signed in 2019 and would expire on June 30, are still unpaid, so the government is trying to get it. The government invited the ambassadors of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates on Monday, according to the Express Tribune.
An anonymous participant in the meeting said that the prime minister told the foreign ambassadors about the efforts that he and Finance Minister Dar personally made over the past few months. According to sources, the prime minister reiterated the government’s desire to receive at least the USD 1.2 billion IMF loan tranche from the USD 2.6 billion that is attached to the completion of the upcoming 9th program review.
According to another participant in the meeting, some ambassadors sought clarifications from the government but were assured that they would convey Pakistan’s position to their capitals. The newspaper said that the ambassadors also talk to people at the IMF. After the meeting, no official statement has been issued by the government.
