Camdessus told Europe 1 radio the IMF which has delayed payments from its latest $1.5 billion credit becasue of doubts about Pakistan's economic programme, did not want to continue its aid if donor countries decided to cut off their support.

Asked if the IMF should give money to put schists, he said,"I hope that developments in Pakistan will lead to a democratic normalisation of the situation ..."

"If not, no?" interjected the radio journalist. "If not, no," Camdessus replied.

"We were about to finish a negotiation with prime minister Sharif," he added. "We made conditions that have not yet been met to unblock our money."

Camdessus, who expressed concern about the coup in a heavily populated nuclear power such as Pakistan, said donor countries often suspended their bilateral aid when a coup occured during the course of an aid programme.

"At that moment, since the IMF does not want to do everything all by itself, its aid is interrupted as well," he said.

Payments from the latest IMF credit approved in 1997 were delayed before the coup because of doubts about economic conditions and a dispute over the role of independent power producers.

The IMF loan stalled initially after US-led sanctions to punish Pakistan for testing nuclear bombs. Payments resumed this January as the country struggled to find funds to pay its debts and to prevent an economic meltdown.

But the IMF and the World Bank remain worried about Pakistan's economic performance, especially about tax collection and the actions of the independent power producers and how much they charge for electricity.

Fund officials said last week that IMF management had met with Pakistani officials following last month's annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank. They "hoped to resolve soon the outstanding issues" blocking new payments from the credit, the fund said in a statement last week.

Camdessus said he was concerned about the coup because Pakistan was "In that hot belt of the world, it is a country that is nuclear, Islamic, very populated, a neighbour of another country that is also very populated."

"Democracy is in retreat," he said. "When democracy retreats, countries are in danger. These are real threats, we're not in the virtual realm here."

New York analysts said Pakistan risked losing billions of dollars in foreign loans because of the coup.