Govt pinning blame of its failures on PTI, PAT sit-ins

• IMF tranche of $550m delayed due to govt’s failure to raise power tariff by four per cent, SROs issuance
• Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson says Chinese president’s visit was never scheduled so no reason for cancellation 

The government’s assertions that the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pakistan has been postponed and that International Monetary Fund (IMF) has delayed a tranche of $550 million due to the ongoing sit-ins by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) are baseless, Pakistan Today has reliably learnt.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had claimed during the joint session of parliament that the cancellation of the Chinese president’s visit had jeopardised $35 billion Chinese investment in Pakistan while the Finance Ministry had also blamed PTI and PAT protests for causing political unrest in the country and thereby leading to a delay in the IMF tranche of $550 million.

GOVT HAS ITSELF TO BLAME FOR NOT SECURING IMF TRANCHE:

Pakistan Today has learnt that the delay in the delivery of the IMF tranche has nothing to do with the political crisis faced by the country and the amount has been put on hold due to the government’s breach of commitments made to the IMF.

Sources in the IMF told Pakistan Today that the Fund had tied the approval of the next loan tranche with a four per cent power tariff increase while the government had also violated its commitment not to issue more SROs beyond the agreed Rs 103 billion.

“The government had committed with IMF delegation during the recent meeting held in Dubai to raise power tariff by four per cent with effect from September 1. However, the government decided not to raise the tariff due to rising unpopularity after the sit-ins by PTI and PAT,” a Finance Ministry official told Pakistan Today.

Interestingly, due to differences over the proposed timing of the increase in tariffs, Pakistan and IMF could not conclude the ongoing fourth round of talks that was held from August 6 to August 18 in Dubai.

Subsequently, the IMF staff, led by Jeffery Franks, conveyed to Finance Minister Dar that the fund’s Executive Board will only call a meeting when the Pakistan government announces its decision to raise the power tariff.

The official said that the timing of the ongoing sit-ins by PTI and PAT have already made it difficult for the government to implement the marginal increase of less than 50 paisa per unit in power tariff.

CANCELLATION OF AN UNSCHEDULED VISIT:

Also, the claim made by Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz about postponement of the Chinese president’s visit to Pakistan till end of September was blown up in the air when a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said that there was no question of postponement of the president’s visit to Pakistan as it was yet to be scheduled.

During a press conference in Beijing on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Qin Gang said, “We never released any information about President Xi’s visit to Pakistan officially. So, it is baseless to say that the visit is being cancelled,” he added.

“We have maintained close high-level exchanges. Both sides are in close communication on the next step of such exchanges. As for the current security situation in Pakistan, we hope relevant parties in Pakistan can work together while bearing in mind the fundamental interests of the state and the people and jointly safeguard national security,” Qin said.