UNifeed: IMF/ PAKISTAN FINANCIAL AID

IMF/ PAKISTAN FINANCIAL AID

The IMF announces it will provide around (USD) $450 million in new emergency financing to Pakistan to help with the economic impact of the massive floods which have affected about one-fifth of Pakistan's land mass and left millions homeless. IMF

Duration:01:28Date:02 September 2010

Categories:

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND DEVELOPMENT FINANCE, PAKISTAN, IMF

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Full Script

STORY: IMF/ PAKISTAN FINANCIAL AID
TRT: 1.28
SOURCE: IMF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 2 SEPTEMBER 2010, WASHINGTON, DC / FILE

SHOTLIST:

RECENT 2010, WASHINGTON DC

1. Wide shot, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF Managing Director walking in to press briefing area with Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Finance Minster of Pakistan
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director, IMF:
"We have two main directions for work; one is short-term help and the second thing is to deal with the economic consequences in the medium term of what has happened. As far as the first point is concerned I’m happy to announce that we will be able to provide four hundred and fifty million dollars in the coming days.”
3. Close up, IMF logo on a wall
4. SOUNDBITE (English) SOUNDBITE (English) Mr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Finance Minster of Pakistan 
"The floods as you know is perhaps the greatest calamity to have struck any country in recent time. Our country, its leadership, the President, the Prime Minister and all of us are united in our resolve to respond to the situation by relying on our own resources and by seeking support from our international friends and ensuring that that support is efficiently utilized for the prosperity of our people.”
4. Wide shot,  IMF logo with people walking by
5. SOUNDBITE (English) SOUNDBITE (English) Mr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Finance Minster of Pakistan 
“Well I think the IMF disbursement is qualitatively different in that it is a clear additionality, as well it is not simply a recycling of existing money. It’s a clear additionality, number one and number two it will be disbursed within weeks.”  6. Wide shot, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, leave the microphone behind

STORYLINE:

The IMF announced it would provide around $450 million in new emergency financing to Pakistan to help the country cope with the economic impact of this summer’s massive floods, which have affected about one-fifth of Pakistan’s land mass and left millions homeless.

“"We have two main directions for work; one is short-term help and the second thing is to deal with the economic consequences in the medium term of what has happened.” said IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. “I’m happy to announce that we will be able to provide four hundred and fifty million dollars in the coming days.”

The emergency financing, which is subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board, would be provided under the IMF’s policy for Emergency Natural Disaster Assistance. The funds are expected to be disbursed later this month.

A Pakistani delegation, led by Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, met with IMF staff and management in Washington during the past week to discuss the disaster’s implications for the country’s budget and longer-term growth targets.

The IMF says it will continue to support Pakistan’s economy under the $11 billion loan program that was initially agreed in November 2008.

“Our dialogue with Pakistan on the current Stand-By Arrangement is progressing and the authorities have expressed their intention to implement measures for the completion of the fifth review of the program later this year. We will stay in close contact as these efforts proceed. Completion of the fifth review will allow the Fund to disburse an additional $1.7 billion, bringing total IMF disbursements (including emergency assistance) to $2.2 billion in the second half of 2010,” Strauss-Kahn said.

Given the disaster’s impact, however, some of the parameters of the existing program may need to be changed, according to Masood Ahmed, Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department.

“The economic impact is going to be very significant,” Ahmed said, noting in particular the floods’ devastating effect on agriculture. “The floods will lower growth and will affect the government’s budget because they will have to spend more and they’ll be able to raise less revenue. And Pakistan will have massive reconstruction costs down the road running into the billions of dollars.”

Discussions on Pakistan’s macroeconomic framework will continue in the coming weeks.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are currently conducting a damage and needs assessment in the flood-hit areas. Preliminary information indicates that direct damage from the floods is greatest in the housing, roads, irrigation, and agriculture, with crop loss estimated at $1 billion, according to the World Bank. However, the full impact on soil erosion and agriculture cannot be assessed until the water recedes.

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