Claim: In July 2024, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva urged the Government of Pakistan to tax the rich and provide subsidies to the poor. She also stressed that the global lender has never asked the country to increase the prices of basic utilities.
Fact: Georgieva has not made such a comment in July 2024. A visual comprising screenshots from a news bulletin about the IMF chief’s comments are from an interview conducted in February 2023.
On 19 July 2024, Facebook page ‘Turfa News HD’ published a post (archive) with two images and the following text:
“آئی ایم ایف کی سربراہ کا کہنا ہے کہ ہم نے کبھی بھی نہیں کہا کہ #بجلی #گیس اور #پٹرول مہنگا کرو بلکہ پاکستانی حکومتوں سے ہمارا مطالبہ ہمیشہ سے یہی رہا ہے کہ امراء سے ٹیکس وصول کرو اور غریبوں کو سہولتیں دو ہمارے ظالم اور بے شرم حکمران کہتے ہیں کہ IMF کی ڈیمانڈ پر بجلی , تیل , گیس مہنگا کرنا پڑتا ہے IMF کی سربراہ پاکستان میں عام لوگوں کے بارے میں جو موقف اختیار کر رہے ہیں وہ قابل غور ہے پاکستانیوں ناہل اور ظالم حکومت نے بجلی گیس پٹرول اور غریب عوام پر دھڑا دھڑ ٹیکسوں کا بوجھ ڈال رہی ہے سب نے مل کر عوام کو ٹرک کی بتی کے پیچھے لگا کے رکھا ہوا ہے
[IMF chief says we have never asked to increase [the prices of] #electricity #gas and #petrol but our demand from Pakistani governments has always been to collect tax from the rich and provide facilities [subsidies] to the poor. Our cruel and shameless rulers say that electricity, oil, [and] gas have to be increased due to the IMF’s demand. The stance that the IMF head has taken about common people in Pakistan is worth noting. Pakistanis, the incompetent and oppressive government is putting the burden of electricity, gas, and petrol [prices], as well as taxes upon taxes on the poor people. All of them [those in power] have kept the people distracted.]”
One of the images includes screenshots from a Capital TV bulletin about comments made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief, with three news cards bearing the following tickers:
- “آئی ایم ایف سربراہ کرسٹالینا جارجیوا کا پاکستان کے حوالے سے سخت ردعمل
[IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva’s strong reaction regarding Pakistan]”
- “ہم امیروں پر ٹیکس لگانے اور غریبوں کو ریلیف دینے کا مطالبہ کر رہے ہیں، آئی ایم ایف
[We are demanding taxing the rich and providing relief to the poor, IMF]”
- “پاکستانی حکومت امیروں کو سبسڈی دینے کیلئے غریبوں پر ٹیکس لگا رہی ہے، آئی ایم ایف
[The Pakistani government is taxing the poor to give subsidy to the rich, IMF]”
The second visual shows two news clippings, with the following Urdu headlines:
- “مہنگائی مجبوری ہے، عمران خان
[Inflation is a compulsion / necessity / unavoidable, Imran Khan]”
- “مہنگائی خواہش نہیں مجبوری، شہباز شریف
[Inflation is not a desire but a compulsion / necessity / unavoidable, Shehbaz Sharif]”
2024 IMF programme
The IMF approved a $7-billion bailout package — Extended Fund Facility (EFF) — for Pakistan, Reuters reported on 26 September 2024, a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the successful deal. The global lender stressed on “sound policies and reforms” for the country’s ailing economy, which was also marred by political chaos after the February elections. Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervaiz Malik said more “difficult decisions” were required to ensure there were no more IMF programmes, the publication added.
“The economy is on the sound path. Growth is up and inflation is down,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters after a meeting of the lender’s Board, according to Reuters. “Continued strong financial support from Pakistan’s development and bilateral partners will also be critical for the program to achieve its objectives,” the global lender said in a statement released 27 September 2024.
In his announcement, PM Sharif thanked Saudi Arabia, China, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for supporting Pakistan in the challenging times, The Express Tribune reported.
The assistance from friendly nations “comprised $5 billion from Saudi Arabia, $4 billion from China and $3 billion from the UAE for a three- to five-year period”, according to a report by France24.
Pakistan and the IMF had reached a staff-level agreement for the “new 37-month EFF arrangement” on 12 July 2024, according to the director of the lender’s communications department, Julie Kozack, who also said in a 12 September press briefing that it “follows the successful implementation of the 2023 9-month stand-by arrangement”.
The programme is Pakistan’s 25th with the IMF so far.
At present, Pakistanis are worried about the hikes in electricity prices, making many unable to afford basic amenities of life, with multiple reports of people also resorting to suicide. Protests have erupted across the country and a former federal minister recently hinted at approaching the courts over “sky-high electricity tariff [and] overbilling”.
Prior to the IMF deal, Pakistan was in a turbulent phase as it remained short of cash and had requested China to restructure some of its power plants-related debt. The global lender had earlier demanded the government to stop providing subsidies to the energy sector. The post being fact-checked in this article was published in this context.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check checked whether IMF Managing Director (MD) Kristalina Georgieva — who was recently selected to lead the global lender for a second five-year term — made such comments in 2024 but did not find any relevant result.
A Google search for “Kristalina Georgieva tax rich poor relief Pakistan” did not yield any results either.
We were able to trace the screenshots from the Capital TV bulletin back to 3 September 2023, when the channel had falsely claimed that Georgieva had made these comments.
At that time, the IMF head had not said anything of this sort — as we wrote in our fact-check — and the screengrabs were from a video interview she gave to German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) on 18 February 2023 on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
In February 2023, Al Jazeera had reported that the IMF “urged Pakistan to protect the poor and impose more taxes on the wealthy as the South Asian nation seeks to unlock funds from the global lender to keep its economy afloat”. It included an X post by DW Asia containing the video interview.
Al Jazeera quoted Georgieva as saying, “What we are asking for are steps Pakistan needs to take to be able to function as a country and not to get into a dangerous place where its debt needs to be restructured. I want to stress that we are emphasising two things. Number one: tax revenues. Those who can … those that are making good money — [whether from the] public sector or private sector — they need to contribute to the economy.
“And secondly, to have a fairer distribution of the pressures by moving subsidies only towards the people who really need it. It shouldn’t be that the wealthy benefit from subsidies; [rather,] it should be the poor [who] benefit from them. And there, the Fund is very clear. We want the poor people of Pakistan to be protected,” she added, according to the publication.
However, on 22 September 2023, the IMF chief posted about taxing the rich and protecting the poor on her verified X (formerly Twitter) account.
“My message to the people of Pakistan 🇵🇰: Please collect more taxes from the wealthy and please protect the poor people of Pakistan. I do believe that this is in line with what people in Pakistan would like to see for the country,” she wrote.
My message to the people of Pakistan 🇵🇰: Please collect more taxes from the wealthy and please protect the poor people of Pakistan. I do believe that this is in line with what people in Pakistan would like to see for the country.https://t.co/ND8REgJhMP
— Kristalina Georgieva (@KGeorgieva) September 22, 2023
Since then, Georgieva has met Pakistani officials, including PM Sharif, thrice: 15 October 2023, 17 April 2024, and 28 April 2024. She was not reported to have made such a statement during the current government’s tenure.
Soch Fact Check concludes that the IMF chief did not make such comments in July 2024 in response to the ongoing concerns and protests over the rising electricity prices.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim published here, here, and here on Facebook.
The visual was also posted on X here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: Georgieva did not make such a comment in July 2024. A visual comprising screenshots from a news bulletin about the IMF chief’s comments are from an interview conducted in February 2023.
Background image in cover photo: IMF Photo/Joshua Roberts
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