Pakistan’s deepening political crisis douses hopes for IMF relief

Pakistan’s political crisis has deepened and hopes for the country to
receive relief from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have faded. This
comes after the country’s central bank announced that it has run out of
foreign currency reserves to pay for imports, which could lead to an
economic crisis. The political crisis began when Prime Minister Imran
Khan’s government arrested opposition leader and former Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif, who had been critical of Khan’s government.
The IMF has been in negotiations with Pakistan over a bailout package for
several months, but the political instability has made it difficult to
finalize the deal. The IMF has stated that Pakistan must implement economic
reforms to qualify for the bailout, but the country’s political crisis has
made it difficult to make progress on these reforms. The situation in
Pakistan is likely to worsen if the country does not receive the IMF’s
support.