Read PAK PM Shehbaz Sharif big statement on Global leaders

Global lenders have billions of dollars to support wars. Still, not cash-strapped Pakistan, said Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif during his speech at the two-day Global Financing Pact Summit in Paris.

“Global lenders would spend billions on war but only offer loans to flood-ravaged Pakistan,” the Prime Minister stated.

“On the one hand, you are ready to provide everything for the defence of a country or countries — that is perfectly fine — but when it comes to saving thousands and thousands of people from death, [one must] borrow money at a very high cost.” Then you have to â€ae beg and borrow, thus deteriorating your fragile financial situation,” PM Shehbaz Sharif added.

Referring to the flood that devastated Pakistan last year, the Prime Minister declared, “We had to cough up hundreds of millions of dollars from our pocket with our scarce resources.”

The Global Financing Pact Summit is being held in Paris to forge an agreement on international economic reforms to assist debt-burdened developing countries in dealing with an increasing barrage of issues, including climate change. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz met separately with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during the meeting.

Shehbaz Sharif also met with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Paris on Thursday in a last-ditch bid to unlock frozen cash before the credit line expires next week.

Shehbaz Sharif has yet another request to the IMF to release the $1.1 billion tranche that has been held up since November of last year as the $6.5 billion loan programme nears its expiration date at the end of June.

The Paris offer came amid reports that Shehbaz’s finance minister, Ishaq Dar, smacked a reporter who questioned him about the blocked funds.

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