Historical report — July 29, 2022: Pakistan’s then-army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, appealed to the United States to help accelerate the release of International Monetary Fund financing, Reuters reported.

What was confirmed

Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed that Bajwa spoke by telephone with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman but did not publicly disclose the conversation’s details. Multiple Pakistani government sources told Reuters that Bajwa asked Washington to use its influence to support an early IMF decision.

At the time, Pakistan and the IMF had reached a staff-level agreement that could enable a tranche of about $1.17 billion, subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board. The board decision had not yet taken place.

Limits of the report

The account was based partly on unnamed government sources. It is more accurate to say Bajwa sought US assistance than to state that Washington was ordered to “pressure” the IMF. The IMF is an international institution with its own review and board-approval process.

The contemporaneous Reuters report described Pakistan’s falling foreign-exchange reserves and currency pressure as the economic context for the request. This article records that July 2022 episode and does not describe Pakistan’s current IMF programme or financial position.