Shaukat Tarin provoked Punjab and KPK to withdraw from the IMF deal
Audio recordings of telephonic conversation between PTI’s leader and former finance minister Shaukat train .
And the finance ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab revealed the PTI’s plot to overthrow the IMF loan program worth $6 billion ahead of the lender’s Executive Board meeting scheduled for August 29 (today).
The audio leaks approval the view that a letter written by KP Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra to Miftah Ismail last week threatening to withdraw from the IMF commitment was a deliberate effort to overthrow the government’s efforts to stabilize the economy.
PTI leader Shaukat Tarin has allegedly asked Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari to withdraw from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) deal, just two days after the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government backtracked from it.
KP and Punjab provinces are under PTI’s control and there have been repeated instances where the federation and regions have had differences — and it all started in April when Imran Khan was ousted.
The KP government — which is completely under PTI’s control — has already written the letter. The Punjab which PTIGovernment criticize PTI “for putting at risk IMF deal” rules in coalition with PML-Q — is yet to write it.
In the leaked audio, Tarin can be heard asking Leghari to tell the lender that Punjab’s commitment was pre-floods and now the province “cannot honor it”.
“You have signed an Rs750 billion [surplus] commitment with the IMF. You now need to tell them that the commitment you made was before the floods, and now [Punjab] has to spend a lot of funds for [the] floods [rehabilitation].”
“you need to announce, not be able to honor our commitment’,” Tarin said, telling Leghari that this is all he wants.
The PTI leader told the finance minister to draft a letter and send it to him for vetting so it could be sent to the federal government and later on to the IMF representative in Pakistan.
At Tarin’s request, Leghari asked whether Pakistan would suffer if Punjab — the largest province of Pakistan — withdraws from the deal.
“Well, frankly isn’t the state already suffering because of the way they are treating your chairman [Khan] and everybody else? IMF will definitely ask them: where will you get the money from now?” Tarin responded.
Tarin said that this could not go on further and the party could not bear being “mistreated” and not respond. “We cannot be blackmailed,” the PTI leader said.
Another leaked video
In another leaked audio, Tarin can be heard asking Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra if he had written the letter.
“I am on the way. I have the previous letter. ” replied the KP finance minister.
Hatching a conspiracy against the IMF deal, Tarin directed Jhagra that the key point of his letter should be the floods devastations in the province.
“First point [of the letter] would be that we need huge financial aid for restoration of infrastructure and rehabilitation of flood affectees,” Tarin tells the KP finance minister, adding that he has already briefed Punjab’s finance minister about it.
“By the way, this is a blackmailing tactic,” he said, adding that nobody leaves money.
PTI remarks about leak audio
In a press conference later, PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar said Tarin being a former finance minister understands the country’s economy and, therefore, he didn’t suggest anything wrong.
“He told both finance ministers to tell the federal government they should go back to the IMF and inform them that we [our provinces] have been hit by a flood and it is not a normal situation,” Umar said.
The PTI leader said that Tarin asked the finance ministers to tell the federal government that it should seek a concession in the budget surplus that was initially agreed upon.
“Will a sensible person believe that this wasn’t a good suggestion? Didn’t Imran Khan, when COVID hit the country, ask the IMF personally for fiscal space? Wasn’t a debt relief program started for developing economies?” Umar questioned.
He added that it is sensible to seek concession from the international lender — given the current situation.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is asking countries for funds to provide relief to the flood affectees. Can’t you ask the IMF to provide fiscal space for a certain period of time, so we can rehabilitate our people through our own money and not ask others for donations?” he stressed.
Umar claims that the letter sent to the federal government and not the IMF.
Separately, PTI Senior Vice President Shireen Mazari said there is “nothing illegal or wrong in the conversation”.
So audio call btwn Tarin & prov FM leaked. There is nothing illegal or wrong in the convo. We have publicly opposed the terms on which imported govt is taking loan from #IMF. But what is illegal is the wire tapping done on conversation without court order. A criminal offence.
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) August 29, 2022
Government remarks
Federal Maritime Affairs Minister and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Senator Faisal Subzwari said the audio leak was not “unfortunate”, but “embarrassing”.
The MQM-P leader reminded the PTI that the state is at stake, not the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. And that it was ex-finance ministers Tarin and Abdul Hafeez Shaikh who made the deal with the IMF.
“The Shehbaz government followed through with the PTI-IMF deal. Where are they [the PTI] taking this country?” the senator lamented.
Subzwari said what the PTI did was “shameful”. Adding that whoever is behind this act is not a well-wisher of the Pakistani nation.
For her part, Climate ChangeUS, China Agree to Cooperate on Climate Change Minister Senator Sherry Rehman said that the PTI. He was ready to push the state towards economic turmoil to satisfy its ego.
Rehman said her party trained to ensure that the country’s interest kept first. The PTI taught otherwise.
“Damaging the country is a serious crime.”
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