UPDATE 3-Pakistan banks on other lenders saving it before IMF

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By Augustine Anthony

ISLAMABAD, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Pakistan might need to borrow from the International Monetary Fund if other multi-lateral lenders and friendly governments fail to help out in the next few weeks, the country's new troubleshooter said on Saturday.

A balance of payments crisis is expected to climax soon, but there was no danger of Pakistan defaulting on its international debt obligations, Shaukat Tarin said a day after returning from overseas visits to Washington and Beijing to drum up support.

"I am very confident that I have plans to make sure, whatever it takes, that we should build our reserves and that we do not default," said Tarin, appointed last week as adviser to the prime minister on economic affairs.

"Now, there is no danger," he told journalists after a news conference, but he said lenders were running out of time to come to Pakistan's rescue.

"We think we will be in very good shape ... within the next 30 to 60 days," Tarin said of the prospects of sewing up funds to cover a balance of payments financing gap that the IMF estimates at up to $4.5 billion, and Pakistan reckons at $3.0 billion for the fiscal year ending on June 30 next year.

Another independent adviser to the government has said up to $4 billion is urgently needed to stabilise Pakistan's economy.

Tarin attended the annual IMF meeting in Washington before joining President Asif Ali Zardari in China earlier this week.

Tarin said he expected multilateral lenders -- the World Bank and Asian Development Bank -- to front-load disbursements from development assistance programmes.

The Islamic Development Bank and Britain's Department for International Development were also expected to virtually double their planned assistance, he said.

There was also a plan to securitise workers' remittances from overseas to the tune of $1.5-2.0 billion, he said.

PLAN C

If all else failed, Tarin said the government had "Plan C" in place. "If we want to go to the IMF, we can ... but only as a backup," he said.

The international bond market has priced in a Pakistani default on a $500 million bond maturing in February.