ISLAMABAD, Oct 28: Pakistan would ask the IMF for a bailout package in less than two weeks if it failed to secure other funding.

“If I do not get a comfortable indication (from the ‘Friends of Pakistan’) by Nov 10, there is no other option but to go to the IMF,” finance ministry head Shaukat Tareen told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.

“I have already pointed out that we have to hurry to secure assistance to avoid the monetary fund.”

An IMF programme would be politically unpopular in Pakistan because it would likely come with painful conditions to cut government spending that could affect programmes for the poor.

Tareen’s comments came hours after German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Pakistan needed to secure money from the IMF within six days to avoid “the most difficult situation in Pakistan”.—AP