After Pompeo comment, China says hopes IMF will follow rules in bailout for countries

BEIJING: China on Tuesday said that it expects the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to follow its set rule to provide funds to countries.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang’s comment was in response to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’ statement, in which he warned that any potential International Monetary Fund bailout for Pakistan's new government should not provide funds to pay off Chinese lenders.

“I think the IMF has its own standards and rules when it cooperates with relevant countries. I believe they will handle it properly,” Shuang said.

According to the Financial Times, the victorious Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is looking for the options of IMF bailout of up to $12billion but the IMF spokesperson confirmed that it hasn’t receive any request for a fund arrangement from Pakistan yet.

Reuters reports: In an interview with CNBC television, Pompeo said the United States looked forward to engagement with the government of Pakistan’s expected new prime minister, Imran Khan, but said there was “no rationale” for a bailout that pays off Chinese loans to Pakistan.

“Make no mistake. We will be watching what the IMF does,” Pompeo said. “There’s no rationale for IMF tax dollars, and associated with that American dollars that are part of the IMF funding, for those to go to bail out Chinese bondholders or China itself,” Pompeo said.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that senior Pakistani finance officials were drawing up options for Khan to seek an IMF bailout of up to $12 billion.

An IMF spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that we have so far not received a request for a Fund arrangement from Pakistan and that we have not had discussions with the authorities about any possible intentions.”