Pakistan expected to get major debt relief from IMF, announces Qureshi

• The Foreign Minister said about seventy countries including Pakistan will benefit from it.
• The Foreign Minister recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had appealed to the world leaders and institutions to restructure loans of the developing countries to cope with the coronavirus challenge

Pakistan is expected to get major debt relief from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) informed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday. 

Talking to local media, regarding the decision of G-20 countries and the IMF to provide debt relief to the developing countries, the Foreign Minister said about seventy countries including Pakistan will benefit from the relief.

Qureshi informed this relief will be for a period of one year and will be applicable from the 1st of May.

The Foreign Minister recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had appealed to the world leaders and institutions to restructure loans of the developing countries to cope with the coronavirus challenge. He said this will enable the developing countries to divert their resources to the protection of lives of the people and make their health systems more effective to respond to the challenge of coronavirus pandemic.

He said this appeal of the Prime Minister was endorsed by the UN Secretary General, the IMF and the G-20 countries.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday appealed for a “Global Initiative on Debt Relief" saying that Covid-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented health and economic challenges.

In a televised appeal to the international community, particularly the developed world and the United Nations, the Prime Minister asserted that the global pandemic cannot be contained without strong, coordinated and well-crafted global response.

Just a day ago, the Group of 20 nations announced a one-year debt relief for the world's poorest nations as they struggle to financially cope with the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement comes as the global economy is plunged into the worst recession in a century.

The G20, which brings together the world's largest economies, also reiterated the pledge to deploy "all available policy tools" to deal with the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19.