Islamabad (HRNW) The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to work with Islamabad to protect the economically disadvantaged by broadening social protection systems and minimizing reform measures that risk further harm to the most vulnerable people, as the country faces its worst economic crisis.
Formal negotiations between the Pakistani government and the IMF team began on Feb 1 to discuss a plan to rescue the economy, including an installment of $1.1 billion in loans from a $6.5 billion bailout that had been designed to ward off economic meltdown in 2019.
“The IMF and the Pakistani government have a responsibility to address this crisis in a way that prioritizes and protects low-income people,” Patricia Gossman, the associate Asia director at HRW, said.
State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves decreased by 16 percent, to $3 billion, in the week ending January 27, an amount covering less than three weeks of imports, with the acute shortages of foreign currency making many imports, including essential medicines scarce or unobtainable.