ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will not seek IMF bailout package, finance minister Asad Umar has revealed.

He has dispelled the notion that Pakistan will seek International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) assistance.

“Pakistan is not in an emergency situation that requires it to rush to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to seek a bailout,” he said, adding, “We have neither stopped imports nor imposed financial sanctions.”

He further said, “We need to take well-measured decisions. As a situation emerges, we take steps to manage it. We don’t want to take decisions in an emergency.”

An IMF mission is set to visit Pakistan on September 27. “We are in discussion with them, but this is not to negotiate for a loan. Our purpose is to do our homework, in case we want to approach them at some stage,” the finance minister commented.

Responding to a question about managing the balance of payment deficit, Umar said, “We are eliminating the root cause of this problem, and that root cause is the fiscal deficit. We have done that through the recent finance bill which will reduce our cost of import.”