Lender seeks to build support for deal before autumn electionsKARACHI:The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and former prime minister Imran Khan expressed support for a recently-reached bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after a meeting with officials of the lender on Friday, his party said.The IMF said it was, in the lead up to general elections in the autumn, seeking the support of the main political parties, including the PTI, for the new nine-month $3 billion stand-by arrangement and policies associated with the programme.PTI leader and former finance minister Hammad Azhar, who attended the meeting virtually, said in a post on Twitter that the former premier and his economic team had discussed last week’s staff-level deal between the IMF and the government.vote last year, leading to a delay in the implementation of the programme and increased economic uncertainty.The general elections are scheduled to be held by early November.The new programme will span three governments – the incumbent set up under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose term ends in August, a caretaker administration that will conduct the polls, and then a new government following the elections.Azhar said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party believed political stability was key for the economy and called for “free, fair and timely” elections after which a new government would initiate reforms and engage on a longer-term basis with multilateral institutions.The meeting is the highest profile engagement for the PTI chief since he was ousted from power less than four years into his five-year term.
