Pakistani premier calls for fair, equitable distribution of global resources

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appealed to the international community for a fair and equitable distribution of global resources.

Speaking at the two-day Summit for New Global Financing Pact in France, Sharif denounced the response of international financial institutions following the flood last year, which he said incurred losses of around $30 billion to his country.

He emphasized that the institutions offered loans rather than aid, while on the other hand, billions of dollars were being spent to defend countries.

During the briefing on the damages caused by last year's devastating flood, Sharif informed the participants that his government provided millions of dollars in cash to affected families, despite facing limited resources.

"We're very grateful to our friendly countries across the globe for the valuable and timely contribution," Sharif said, aired by state-run Pakistan Television on Thursday.

He further added that when Islamabad sought assistance from international financial institutions to aid Pakistan after the flood, the institutions said they could provide loans instead of aid.

Sharif raised the question of how he could secure additional loans when his country was already burdened with significant debt.

Without naming any Western country, he said billions of dollars are spent to defend countries but on the other side, they are offering loans to save thousands of people from dying.

"This is not fair," he said.

According to Sharif, over 33 million people were affected across the country by last year's flood while 1,700 people died, one million animals perished and some two million houses were completely demolished or partially damaged.

On Thursday, the Pakistani premier also met with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief in France in an attempt to secure the release of the remaining $1.1 billion in IMF program funds amid the ongoing economic crisis.

Islamabad has been negotiating with the IMF since early February to release $1.1 billion as part of a $6.5 billion bailout package signed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan's government in 2019. To meet the IMF's stringent demands, Sharif and his coalition government have reduced subsidies, removed an artificial exchange rate cap, increased taxes, and raised fuel and electricity prices.

The country is grappling with depleting foreign reserves.

On Friday the country's central bank announced that it received a $1 billion loan from China, bringing the South Asian nation's foreign exchange reserves back to more than $4 billion, which is a record low since 2014.