US won’t block IMF funds bid — minister

Remarks come in stark contrast to Pompeo’s warnings in July that US had reservations

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured Pakistan last week Washington would not try to block any request for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said yesterday.

The remarks, which Chaudhry said Pompeo made during his visit to Pakistan last Wednesday, come in stark contrast to Pompeo’s warnings in July that the United States had serious reservations about the IMF giving money to Pakistan due to concerns Islamabad would use the cash to pay off Chinese loans.

Those comments rattled Islamabad, which is facing a currency crisis and may have no option but to turn again to the IMF for a rescue if staunch allies China and Saudi Arabia do not offer more loans to prop up its foreign currency reserves.

‘He assured Pakistan’

Chaudhry said relations between United States and Pakistan were “broken” before Pompeo’s trip to Islamabad but the visit had “set many things straight” and reinvigorated ties.

“He assured Pakistan that ... if Pakistan opted to go to IMF for any financial help, the USA will not oppose it,” Chaudhry said in the capital, Islamabad.

The US embassy in Islamabad did not have any immediate comment.

The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan is trying to avert a currency crisis caused by a shortage of foreign currency.