ISTANBUL: Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Thursday his country was discussing the terms and conditions of a possible International Monetary Fund deal to cope with a balance-of-payments crisis.
But Gilani said he still hoped Pakistan could avoid IMF assistance if it wins billions of dollars in aid from friendly governments at a meeting in Abu Dhabi next month.
Pakistan, a nuclear-armed U.S. ally, has been in discussions with the IMF since last week but officials from both sides have been tight-lipped about the talks. Faced with dwindling foreign reserves, it has a few weeks to raise billions of dollars in foreign loans to meet debt payments and pay for imports.
"We are already talking to the IMF and they are talking about terms and conditions," Gilani told international news agency in an interview on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Istanbul.
"Whether those terms and conditions are suitable to Pakistan or not, my advisers have to make up their mind," he said.
Islamabad's seven-month-old government, running Pakistan after more than eight years under former army chief Pervez Musharraf, has been reluctant to go to the IMF although many analysts believe this is inevitable.
An IMF package often involves cutting spending, raising taxes and tightening monetary policies.
The "Friends of Pakistan" group -- which includes the United States, the European Union, the UAE, the United Nations and China -- is due to meet next month.
"The Friends of Pakistan are making a package to get Pakistan out of the present situation," Gilani said.
"If our friends start supporting us immediately, maybe Pakistan will not need IMF support," he said.
Pakistan's economic woes began before the global financial crisis set in but analysts say the crisis has compounded Pakistan's difficulties by making donors reluctant to step in.
Gilani's top economic adviser, Shaukat Tarin, said earlier this week Pakistan had no alternative to seeking IMF money, but that Islamabad "would accept their programme on our terms".
Pakistani newspapers have been full of speculation about the conditions which might be attached to an IMF deal, of which the most important would be a big cut in defence spending.
Pakistan, an ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, is battling militants at home. Asked if the IMF had suggested a cut in defence spending as part of any deal, Gilani said: "Certainly not."
Gilani said there was "no possibility" of default and Pakistan would seek deferred oil payments from Saudi Arabia.
Saudi officials have said they will attend the Abu Dhabi talks, but have highlighted the importance of financial institutions.
Asked if his country also planned to ask Iran for deferred oil payments, Gilani said: "I think there is no harm in talking to Iran (about oil deferred payments). Certainly we will ask all our friends to help us out of the difficult situation."
In the interview, Gilani criticised recent U.S. attacks on militants on the Pakistani side of the border.
"These actions are counterproductive and are not helping us combat terrorism," Gilani said.
On Wednesday, Pakistan summoned the U.S. ambassador in Pakistan to protest over missile strikes by pilotless U.S. aircraft on the Pakistani side of its border with Afghanistan, but Gilani said relations between the two allies were good.
"There is only one policy the people of Pakistan are not happy with the United State, and that is the interference of the territory and the sovereignty of Pakistan."
news by thearynews.com
