Will seek IMF bailout in Nov, Pak finance ministry says despite Saudi financial assistance
File photo: Pakistan PM Imran Khan.
A day after Pakistan announced Saudi's assentto provide rescue aid to it, the country on Wednesday clarified that it still plans to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"Yes, we are going ahead into program negotiations with (IMF) in first week of November," Noor Ahmed, spokesman for Pakistan's finance ministry, told Reuters.
Islamabad on Tuesday said that Saudi Arabi had agreed to give Pakistan $3 billion in foreign currency support for a year and a further loan worth up to $3 billion in deferred payments for oil imports to help revive the country looming under economic crisis.
The agreement was announced as thenew Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan attended a Saudi investment conference in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The conference had beenboycotted by several other leaders over the killingof Saudi journalistJamal Khashoggi at the country's consulate in Istanbul.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had said earlier that the country was "desperate"for the financial assistance.
In an interview to journalists on October 20, PM Imran Khan was reported as saying that even though Pakistan was concerned about the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, they were "desperate" for financial help from Saudi Arabia.
The existence of theinterview was however later denied bythe specialassistant to Pakistan's Prime Minister, Naeem ul Haque.
Khan who is currently in Riyadh is on his second visit to Saudi Arabia in just over a month.