IMF’s deep pockets run to roughly $1tr, of which it has about $142bn in outstanding credit. Think of the world as one big joint family with 190 sons. Some of the sons are very rich, and some are very poor. The rich pool in the money to bail out the poor. The United States is among the richest sons, so it contributes $117bn to the IMF quota and has a 16.5pc voting share.

Historically, Argentina has been the biggest borrower in the lender’s history. In 2018, it approached IMF for a record $50bn bailout and had to return to IMF again for another loan in 2022. Combined, the top three borrowers, Argentina, Egypt and Ukraine, make up almost half of the total loans that IMF has doled out. While IMF’s loan to Pakistan is currently the fourth biggest it has extended, it accounts for only 5pc of the lender’s outstanding credit.

Note: Converted to USD based on the latest available conversion rate of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) of 1.3. SDRs are IMF’s international reserve assets.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 28th, 2022