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HomeLatestYou have crossed all the limits,' Miftah Ismail slams PTI

You have crossed all the limits,’ Miftah Ismail slams PTI

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ISLAMABAD: Berating PTI, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Monday revealed that a copy of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s letter in which they had refused to implement the IMF loan precondition for the surplus budget was deliberately provided to the lender to torpedo the $6 billion loan agreement.

The hard-hitting press conference from the minister came after two audio leaks confirmed that  PTI leader Shaukat Tarin instigated KP and Punjab governments to write letters, withdrawing commitments for the IMF programme.

Speaking to the media, Miftah Ismail said that the KP government had sent the letter 72 hours before the crucial IMF Executive Board meeting, he said, adding that when he checked the letter was also available with the officials of the lender.

“Now it is clear that you wrote the letter to sabotage the IMF programme,” the finance minister said, adding that Shoukat Tarin and the PTI should quit politics.

“Shoukat Tarin in the architect of PTI’s mean act,” he added.

“You have crossed all the limits, you tell lies. You should be ashamed for hatching a conspiracy against the country,” Miftah blasted PTI.

He maintained that PTI has crossed all the limits to bring  Imran Khan back into power.

Miftah said Imran Khan should apologise for damaging the interest of the country. He asked the PTI supporters to hold their leaders accountable.

“Should we rename Pakistan to Bani Gala? Have they no shame? How can they stoop so low?” the finance minister questioned.

Miftah said the KP finance minister had told him that he had not sent the letter — in which he pulled out from the IMF deal — to the lender. “Have some shame […] I verified it, the letter was sent to the IMF.”

New audio leaks

Audio recordings of telephonic conversation between PTI’s leader and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin and the finance ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab revealed the PTI’s plot for sabotaging the IMF loan programme worth $6 billion ahead of the lender’s Executive Board meeting scheduled for August 29 (today).

The audio leaks endorsed the view that a letter written by KP Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra to Miftah Ismail last week threatening to withdraw from the IMF commitment was a deliberate effort to sabotage the government’s efforts to stabilize the economy.

In one of the audio leaks, Tarin can be heard asking Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari to tell the lender that the commitment Punjab made was pre-floods and now the province “cannot honour it” due to unprecedented losses.

“You have signed an Rs750 billion [surplus] commitment with the IMF. You now need to tell them that the commitment you made was before the floods, and now [Punjab] has to spend a lot of funds for [the] floods [rehabilitation].”

Tarin-Jhagra talk

In the leaked audio, Shaukat Tarin can be heard asking Jhagra if he had written the letter.

“I am on the way. I have the previous letter. I will send the letter to you after drafting it,” replied the KP finance minister.

Tarin directed Jhagra that the key point of his letter should be the flood devastation in the province.

“First point [of the letter] would be that we need huge financial aid for restoration of infrastructure and rehabilitation of flood affectees,” Tarin told the KP finance minister, adding that he has already briefed Punjab’s Finance Minister Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari about it.

“By the way, this is a blackmailing tactic,” he admitted, adding that nobody gives money.

Tarin directed the KP finance minister to dispatch the letter today. He maintained that a copy of the letter would be forwarded to the IMF.

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