Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan
Pakistan's Sindh province Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of travelling around the world to "beg" for financial support for his cash-strapped country.
"Imran Khan is going from country to country to beg (for financial aid)," Shah, a leader of Pakistan People's Party (PPP), said in a speech at a rally in Matli, Badin on Sunday.
He also claimed that those without any experience in politics were given a seat in the government, Samaa TV reported.
On January 5, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had finalised a $6.2 billion support package to help Pakistan address its balance of payments challenge.
According to a report in Dawn newspaper, the package involved $3.2 billion worth of oil supplies on deferred payment, besides a $3 billion cash deposit. It was expected to be announced by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his two-day visit to the country starting Sunday.
The daily had cited a government official as saying that the package was similar to that given by Saudi Arabia.
With this, Pakistan would get a total saving of about $7.9 billion on oil and gas imports from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, accounting for more than 60 per cent of annual oil import bill of about $12-13 billion, the official said.
The government had also started backchannel discussions with Qatar for some relief in terms of reduction in LNG prices or a relaxed payment schedule, but that was at an early stage, the daily said.
Khan had also visited China in November to seek economic assistance. That time, state-run news channel PTV ran "Begging" dateline instead of "Beijing" on screen during the live broadcast of his speech and became a target of trolling by netizens.
