Pakistanis–rejected by IMF, dejected by leadership

A highly appreciative skill of the Pakistani administration is their extensive theatricals which can deceive the most intelligent of men. Lengthy speeches in the parliament are converted into minutes packed with wise counsel. After collecting enough praises and spewing venom on the opposition, they end up ultimately doing what they would do anyway — putting the country’s interest on the back burner while watching political interests.

Pakistan’s precarious economic situation has become a victim of habit. A humiliating everyday defeat.

Earlier this year Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was highly optimistic about turning things around. He played hardball with the IMF; possibly maintaining the country’s pride while holding a begging bowl before the IMF.

Today the country stands exactly where it started, as bankrupt as they were a year ago.

IMF has announced that Pakistan’s economy has scaled down from 6 percent in 2022 to below 0.5 percent this year. In light of the political drama, no less inspired by the local television industry, IMF is not confident in the stability of the current government. Their attitude shows that they cannot trust Pakistan’s bureaucratic competence to implement reforms. Gone are the days to call upon Washington for backchannel requests on waivers and softer terms.

With a 38 percent inflation rate in May 2023 (42.2 percent in rural areas) and more than a third of the population starving, Pakistan is very brave to continue its business-as-usual attitude. Today’s Food and beverages are 48.65 percent more expensive than a year ago. The government would rather have packaged edibles sitting past their expiration date than be given out to people who anyway don’t have the purchasing power to buy them.

Pakistan is supposed to repay $77.5 billion between April 2023 to June 2026 towards foreign loans, and considering their GDP and their complacent attitude, it will take a lot of work to return even one-tenth of the amount. Countries that had promised charity to Pakistan are backing out in silence. When the IMF gave an ultimatum to the country to stabilize its politics, Pakistan’s Defence Minister said that the IMF is “meddling” with its internal affairs. Obviously, one will think and question a hundred times before donating millions of dollars to a country whose leadership and citizenry have a proclivity for collective suicide. Where mass mobilizations are more reactionary than goal-based and aimed at destruction.

The World Food Program Report declares that if the political and economic crisis deepens, Pakistan will look at a significant food shortage problem for the coming several months. Containers filled with essential food items, medicines, and raw materials have piled up at the Karachi port waiting to be owned by the cash-strapped nation.

Amid all the “gotcha” politics among the cream class, somewhere people are risking their lives for stale pieces of bread for their families. Children are out of school because parents can’t afford the education. 65 percent of the population which is below 30 years of age is leading a sub-par life in misery and depression. The aspirations of 246 million people mean nothing to the elites besides a solid vote bank. The leadership can always fly away to safer havens in Dubai, the UK, or the Gulf, and still be able to rule from there as Nawaz Sharif did from London. To them, ordinary Pakistanis are background characters.

In June 2022 PTI chairman Imran Khan gravely addressed gatherings saying that spiralling inflation can make Pakistan the next Sri Lanka. His compelling persona and encouragement pulled the masses onto the streets of the country against the ruling government. He told them they must stand against inflation “for their own good” and resist the “imported government”. All of which they did. Khan succeeded in insidiously exploiting people and displayed his control over them on May 9. And yet, Pakistan’s inflation surpassed Sri Lanka’s.

Whether it is the PTI, PML-N, PPP, MQM, or ANP, all leadership is ready to barter Pakistan’s future for their turn on the musical chairs of power. Their words are not worth the paper they are written on. Apart from the daily firefighting, no one wants to take up the igneous activity of economic development.

As the elections approach, the leadership must not underestimate the power of the starving population. If they do not get their act together, May 9 would be repeated and obituaries would begin on the front page

(thepakmilitarymonitor)