As the flood-hit areas are still reeling from the cataclysmic climate disaster, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and global institutions not to push the affected people towards further inflation.

Islamabad had last month kicked off formal talks with the IMF to discuss an economy-rescuing plan that also includes an instalment of a $1.1 billion loan payment from a $6.5 billion bailout package, which was designed to ward off Pakistan’s economic meltdown in 2019.

To meet the IMF’s demand for the loan, the government has already hiked up the price of petroleum products which will move the already record-high inflation upwards and an increase in the rates of power, gas, and other commodities are also in the pipeline.

The bailout package is critical for the nation of 220 million as the State Bank of Pakistan-held foreign exchange reserves are at a critical level of around $3 billion, for the week ended January 27, which is enough to cover imports for less than a month.