'Chuck IMF, set up chit fund with 57 Islamic nations': Pakistani cleric's bizarre advice to govt goes viral

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Pakistan is currently at the beginning of the worst economic crisis since the country's formation in 1947, Geo-politik reported. The Cash-strapped Pakistan economy is in dire states with plunging currency, soaring inflation, a balance of payments crisis, diminishing forex reserves all amid political chaos and a deteriorating security situation.

A rapidly devaluing currency and a record fall in Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves have fueled speculations that the country might be heading towards default in repayment of debt.


According to the report, Pakistan has taken fourteen loans from the IMF thus far, but ironically none of them has ever been completed. This, therefore, raises serious questions about the capacity and capability of the Pakistan state to get out of this dead-end. Pakistan may face a disaster like never before unless China or Saudi Arabia bail out the country.

The Pakistani rupee has plummeted to PKR 250 against the dollar, and the currency had to forego 12 percent of its value. The country's government has raised the price of petrol and diesel by Pak Rs 35 per litre.

As Pakistan’s inflation hits a 48-year high, with a double-digit increase in the cost of most essential goods, no one is feeling spared. Hope has also dimmed as the country braces for record currency devaluation, higher taxes and electricity bills.

Amidst the economic crisis, a Pakistani cleric’s weird suggestion to the Shehbaz Sharif government has gone viral.

Addressing a gathering, cleric Allama Nasir Madni told his followers that Pakistan can easily ditch the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and set up a “committee” (chit fund) with only Islamic countries to bring their country out of the ongoing economic crisis.


“I propose the Pakistan government should form a chit-fund with all 57 Islamic nations in the world and ask them to deposit one billion dollars each to revive our economy. Then Pakistan will no longer have to depend on loans from the IMF and can easily stop approaching them,” he said.

Activist Amber Zaidi posted Madni’s video on Twitter and it instantly went viral.


Madni’s bizarre yet unintentionally hilarious advice evoked a lot of sarcastic reactions from the desi audience.

“Petition to make Nasir Madni as our Next Minister of Finance. I believe this is the most easy way to get rid of "IMF",” joked a user from Pakistan.


Earlier, Islamist Saad Rizvi, the leader of the hardline Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, asked the Pakistan government to stop begging in front of other nations and instead threaten them with a nuclear bomb and demand money.