$1bn bailout for Pakistan approved by IMF despite India’s protest

New Delhi: Despite India's serious misgivings about the disbursement of a $1 billion loan facility to Pakistan, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) authorised the bailout package on Friday, a finance ministry official stated.

India opposes IMF lifeline for Pakistan due to terror financing risk

India strongly opposed further financial assistance from the IMF to Pakistan at the executive board meeting held on Friday, expressing serious concerns over Islamabad’s track record and the fact that the bailouts were enabling the cash-strapped country to sponsor cross-border terrorism, IANS reported.

India abstained from voting on extending a fresh $1.3 billion IMF loan to Pakistan under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) lending program at the meeting.

“While the concern that fungible inflows from international financial institutions, like IMF, could be misused for military and state-sponsored cross-border terrorist purposes resonated with several member countries, the IMF response is circumscribed by procedural and technical formalities. This is a serious gap highlighting the urgent need to ensure that moral values are given appropriate consideration in the procedures followed by global financial institutions,” India’s representative Parameswaran Iyer said at the meeting.

He highlighted that Pakistan has been a prolonged borrower from the IMF, with a very poor track record of implementation and adherence to the IMF's programme conditions.

Last September, the Executive Board of the IMF approved a 37-month Extended Arrangement under the EFF for Pakistan in the amount of SDR 5,320 million (or around $7 billion). While there was an immediate disbursement of $1 billion, the meeting on Friday was called to review the funding programme for Pakistan.

“Had the previous programmes succeeded in putting in place a sound macroeconomic policy environment, Pakistan would not have approached the Fund for yet another bailout program. India pointed out that such a track record calls into question either the effectiveness of the IMF program designs in case of Pakistan or their monitoring or their implementation by Pakistan,” according to a Finance Ministry statement.

Pakistan military’s deeply entrenched interference in economic affairs poses significant risks of policy slippages and reversal of reforms. Even when a civilian government is in power now, the army continues to play an outsized role in domestic politics and extends its tentacles deep into the economy. In fact, a 2021 UN report described military-linked businesses as the “largest conglomerate in Pakistan”.

The situation has not changed for the better; rather, the Pakistan Army now plays a leading role in the Special Investment Facilitation Council of Pakistan, the statement added.

India flagged the Pakistan chapter of the IMF Report on Evaluation of Prolonged Use of IMF Resources. The report noted a widespread perception that political considerations have an important role in the IMF lending to Pakistan.

As a result of repeated bailouts, Pakistan’s debt burden is very high, which paradoxically makes it a too-big-to-fail debtor for the IMF. India pointed out that rewarding continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism sends a dangerous message to the global community, exposes funding agencies and donors to reputational risks, and makes a mockery of global values.