Gen Bajwa speaks to US diplomat over release of IMF funds

WASHINGTON: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has reached out to Washington to request help in securing an early loan dispersal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avoid a default.

According to a report by a foreign publication, Gen Bajwa spoke by phone with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in a highly unusual move earlier this week.

The publication cited well-placed sources with Pakistan and United States, saying that Bajwa made an appeal for the White House and Treasury Department to push the IMF to immediately supply nearly $1.2 billion that Pakistan is due to receive under a loan programme.

It added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif does not have much credibility or political capital beyond Islamabad, and faces persistent pressure from ousted rival Imran Khan.

The IMF already granted Pakistan staff-level approval for the loan in question on July 13. However, the transaction – part of the IMF’s $6 billion Extended Fund Facility for Pakistan – will only be processed after the multilateral lender’s executive board grants final approval.

The IMF is reportedly going into recess for the next three weeks and its board will not convene until late August. No firm date has been set for announcing the loan approval for Pakistan.

It further said Bajwa’s appeal comes in the wake of separate meetings between senior civilian Pakistani and American officials in July, none of which managed to negotiate an early disbursement of funds.

The lack of progress in those meetings spurred Gen Bajwa to get Washington’s attention when other emissaries could not deliver. However, the report said it was not immediately clear if Gen Bajwa had managed to convince the US administration.

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