Bailout nation

No details are yet available about the final terms of the IMF bailout package but the IMF has been insisting on further devaluation, more taxation and raise in the prices of gas and electricity. It is said that the government had no option but to knock at the doors of the IMF in view of the tight fiscal position, despite agreements signed with friendly countries like Saudi Arabia, China and the UAE. However, it is a matter of concern that the economic conditions have not improved despite heavy loans from the Fund in exchange for reforms that led to almost nowhere. Every time the country has signed any bailout package with the IMF, people have been told that the bitter pills of reforms will have to be swallowed for the sake of long-term economic stability and development of the country. But at the end of the day, we unfortunately stood at the same old place. The reforms paid no worthwhile dividends other than multiplying the woes of the people due to repeated devaluation and hike in rates of electricity and gas, which in turn increased the cost of doing business and so rendered our products uncompetitive in the international market.

Isn’t it a sad state of affairs that, despite all these programmes and strict conditions, the latest forecast by the IMF says that Pakistan’s growth rate would remain subdued at 2.5 percent till 2024? The present government came to power with a promise to get rid of ignominious foreign loans but it has ended up getting more loans than previous governments – and that too in such a short span of time. Out-of-the-box solutions will have to be found to put Pakistan on the right track.

Maroof Hussain

Karachi