A follow-up to:
IMF, WB Play “Good Cop, Bad Cop” for VAT
But this time they are switching roles: this time, it is WB playing the role of the ‘good cop’ and IMF is starring as the ‘bad cop’:
WB hails improvement in Pak economy
ISLAMABAD (PPI) – World Bank appreciated “signs of improvement” in Pakistan’s economy which has potential to grow.
WB will provide all possible assistance to Pakistan in facing economic challenges, said visiting WB VP for South Asia Region Ms Isabel Guerrero in meeting Friday with Finance Minister, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. World Bank wants to see Pakistan moving on path of development with a vibrant economy, she observed.
Dr. Sheikh said World Bank played “crucial role in economic development of Pakistan and we expect this relationship will continue in future as well,” He spoke of challenges faced by economy, like inflationary pressure, energy deficit and circular debt. The government has taken measures to counter these. He said in order to maintain macro-economic stability, policies of fiscal, debt reduction and reducing inflation to single digit are being followed. For growth acceleration, government introduced structural reforms, productivity, efficiency enhancement process, improvement in governance and encouraging private investment….
Now compare that to IMF’s barf the very same day to the very same person:
Get your act together, IMF tells Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has for the first time conveyed a strongly-worded message to Pakistan, asking it to get its act together if it wants to keep the Fund’s $11.3 billion programme on track – a tough task which involves achieving some unrealistic targets set in the budget.Finance ministry officials said that the strict warning was given by the visiting IMF Mission Chief for Pakistan, Adnan Mazarei, in a meeting with Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The meeting started on a bitter note, as the minister could not make it to the venue on time, which made the IMF representative angry as he had to wait for over half an hour, said insiders.
The IMF thinks that the government has set over-ambitious targets in the budget and is not taking the required actions to achieve them, said the sources.
Mazarei termed the budget deficit target and its financing plan “risky” and told the finance minister in explicit terms that Pakistan did not have a secure “financing plan for 4 per cent budget deficit target”.…
:-P
