IMF not being fair to Pakistan: Bilawal

NEW YORK: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has stated that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is not being fair to Pakistan, adding that the country was in “a perfect storm” of crises. 

In a wide-ranging interview with the foreign media on Friday, Bilawal said that Pakistan was facing an economic crisis, the consequences of last year’s catastrophic flooding and terrorism which was “once again rearing its ugly head”.

Sharply criticising the IMF, Bilawal said the PPP supported expanding revenue collection and believed those who were well off should pay more. But he added that Pakistan had been unable to achieve structural tax reform “for the last 23 IMF programmes that we have been a part of.”

“Is it really the time to nitpick about our tax policy and tax collection while we’re suffering from a climate catastrophe of this scale?” Bilawal asked.

The IMF is not being fair to Pakistan, which is also dealing with 100,000 new refugees following the West’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and “a steady uptick of terrorist activities within our country,” he was quoted as saying.

The foreign minister further said that the IMF was stretching out talks at a time when the country needed money to help the “poorest of the poor”.

“And they’re being told that until their tax reform is not complete, we will not conclude the IMF programme.”

He said that Pakistan was able to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, as well as inflation and supply chain disruptions. But then last year’s floods devastated the country, he said, calling it the “biggest, most devastating climate catastrophe that we’ve ever experienced.”

He further said that Pakistan had a “very healthy economic relationship” with China that was “also in the spotlight as a result of geopolitical events”.

He said the government was “very grateful” to Beijing for the $1.3bn loan announced earlier this month, especially in light of the floods.

“The government of China have supported Pakistan whether by rolling over our debt or by providing economic assistance in one form or the other,” the foreign minister said. “I am not concerned about this issue at the moment. We need help and support from wherever we can get it.”

He said that in order to meet the country’s energy needs and to provide relief to citizens paying for expensive imported fuel, the government was “looking to work with anyone, including Russia”. He added that he believed there was now space for imports from Russia within the US price cap.

Talking about Pak-US ties, Bilawal said, “We are on a healthy trajectory.”

He pointed to talks on climate, health, technology and trade. He added that Pakistani officials had also met recently to discuss counterterrorism.

Bilawal said that Pakistan’s “alleged influence over the Taliban has always been exaggerated”.

He said Pakistan, however, had always maintained the importance of engaging with the Taliban on terrorism and other issues, especially women’s rights to education and jobs. Pakistan would like to see the Taliban take action against all terrorist groups, but said there were questions about their capacity to combat these groups.

Bilawal said his advice to the West is to engage with the Taliban “regardless of what’s going on on the ground”. He said that without a functioning economy, there won’t be “space” for the Taliban to implement political decisions.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Friday said Muslims across the world were being targeted through “new fascist policies” as he severely denounced Islamophobia at the United Nations, Geo News reported.The minister’s comments came as he opened a special high-level meeting to commemorate the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, with a fervent call to everyone — from any religion or creed — to stand together in the fight against hatred, bigotry, and intolerance.

“Hatred is being spread against Muslims under a well-thought-out strategy. Muslims are being targeted because of their religion,” the foreign minister stressed, as he noted that the purpose behind bringing matters like hijab into politics is solely to target Islam.

He said that since 9/11, animosity and institutional suspicion of Muslims and Islam across the world escalated to “epidemic proportions”.

“Despite protestations to the contrary,” the foreign minister said, “Islam and Muslims are routinely linked to terrorism.”

In some cases, he said, the rhetoric of hate and incitement to violence is officially inspired, noting that repeated pogroms of Muslims have been instigated by officially sanctioned neo-fascist policies and ideologies with complete impunity. “The policies and violent actions of those who deny the right of self-determination of Muslim people represent the worst manifestations of Islamophobia today.”

“Unfortunately,” the foreign minister said, “the virus of Islamophobia is spreading faster than we have been able to react. “Not even the greatest democracies are immune. We have witnessed democratic societies expose Muslim bans. So-called free societies allow for the desecration of holy texts and holy sites.”

“Even my region is not immune to democratic secular societies under the threat of being transformed into religious and Islamophobic states,” the foreign minister said.

“Today, we must renew our resolve to build an inclusive society where different cultures and beliefs are celebrated and diversity is embraced. We can ill-afford to ignore dangerous ideologies and acts dividing us as humanity,” he added.

The declaration of March 15 as an International Day to Combat Islamophobia by the General Assembly is a demonstration of global solidarity with both known and unknown victims of Islamophobia, FM Bilawal said.

The meeting is co-convened by the Office of the President of the General Assembly and Pakistan in its capacity as the Chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers. Last year, the 193-member Assembly adopted resolution 76/254 designating March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.Csaba Korosi, the assembly’s president, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and High Representative of the UN Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) Miguel Moratinos, and others were present at the meeting.