Pakistan on Saturday sacked State Bank of Pakistan Governor Tariq Bajwa and appointed International Monetary Fund economist Reza Baqir to a three-year term. The Imran Khan-led government also removed Federal Board of Revenue Chairperson Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, Bloomberg reported.
Bajwa and Jehanzeb Khan were fired because of their poor performance, Firdous Ashiq Awan, a special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan, said. The sackings took place amid talks between Islamabad and the IMF for a bailout package for Pakistan. However, no replacement has yet been named for Jehanzeb Khan, Dawn reported.
Pakistan’s foreign debt has soared, its current account deficit has widened, its reserves have depleted and the currency has been devalued several times since 2017. Pakistan also reduced its investment in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor last year.
Pakistani and IMF officials held a meeting to discuss the bailout package earlier this month. Head of IMF Mission to Pakistan Ernesto Rigo told Planning, Development and Reform Secretary Zafar Hasan that the country should limit its development spending at this year’s level in the 2020-’21 budget, The Express Tribune reported on Saturday. The IMF is likely to grant a loan of $6.5 billion for three years.
Meanwhile, the Opposition party Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) condemned the federal government’s decision to sack Bajwa and Khan, The Express Tribune reported. “The country has been made a colony of the IMF on whose instructions the government changed the State Bank of Pakistan governor and the Federal Board of Revenue chairperson,” party leader Rana Sanaullah said. The daily, citing sources, said the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) may launch a protest against the government both inside and outside Parliament.
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