... aka
Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
says the country might need to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address its mounting balance of payments crisis and economic woes.
"We may go to IMF for loan to handle the country’s financial issues," Khan told news hounds in eastern city of Lahore on Sunday.
The premier, however, said that Islamabad would seek funding from friendly countries first. Khan did not name the countries or provide any details of the requests.
"But, first we will try to get assistance from other countries as we have requested three countries to deposit money in Pakistain’s State Bank that would help boost national reserves."
Last week, the IMF concluded a consultative visit with a warning that Pakistain needed to quickly secure "significant external financing" to stave off a crisis.
Any IMF bailout would likely include conditions to curb government spending. The IMF's demands could threaten Khan’s campaign promise to build an Islamic welfare state.
Finance Minister Asad Umar earlier said foreign reserves need to be boosted by at least $8 billion. But foreign reserves dropped by $627 million in late September to $8.4 billion. The weekly fall was the sharpest in years.