Currency traders in Pakistan’s open market have offered the government $24 billion in loans over the next two years to assist it avoid the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, which has harmed the country’s economy.
Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) President Malik Bostan said: “We have offered $1 billion a month in financing to the government for the next two years to get rid of the IMF,” The Express Tribune reported.
He emphasised that the government must issue an order allowing exchange corporations to borrow US dollars directly from overseas Pakistanis, foreign firms, and global exchange companies.
The loans will be free of charge and can be rolled over if necessary.
“We are in contact with millions of expatriate Pakistanis as they are our clients. They are ready to lend $1 billion a month to us (exchange companies) over the next 24 months, in addition to the usual inflows received by exchange companies.”
The suggestion was proposed by Bostan and other association office-bearers at a meeting with Senate Standing Committee on Finance Chairman Saleem Mandviwala in Islamabad, according to The Express Tribune.
The huddle included central bank officers and other high-ranking individuals.
“Exchange companies are already supplying $300-400 million a month, totalling $4 billion a year, to the inter-bank market,” he revealed, adding that the IMF had continued to come up with new conditions one after another, making it tough for Pakistan to give a push to its economy.
He requested that the government reconsider its laws, rules, and regulations for IT freelancers who have accounts in foreign banks totalling billions of dollars. “If the laws are relaxed, these deposits will be brought to Pakistan.”
