ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has made it clear that the country needed USD 41 billion dollars in the next 12 months. He was speaking at the Pre-Budget Business Conference organized by the government in Islamabad.

The minister further said that the Shehbaz Sharif government had restarted talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"We talked to them and we are very, very confident that we will soon have an agreement with the IMF. We are very, very confident of that," he said.

The Minister further said that an average debt during the PTI government's tenure was PKR 5,177 billion, while for the PML-N it was PKR 2,132 billion which was used for infrastructure development.

He said that over the span of 71 years, the country's rulers -- including military dictators -- took out loans of PKR 25,000bn while former premier Imran took out loans worth PKR 20,000bn over a span of four years.

"This is 80 per cent of all loans taken by the entire government of Pakistan in the previous 71 years," he said, adding that this had resulted in an increase in debt servicing. "The more you borrow, the more you have to pay."