KARACHI:
Pakistan is paying a heavy price for the ongoing political instability. The country has descended into a chaos-like situation, which has raised uncertainty. Ordinary citizens are faced with record-breaking inflation. The government has taken unpopular decisions such as increasing the prices of petroleum products to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions. These difficult economic decisions have further eroded public support for the coalition parties at the helm.
In a turn of events, IMF has asked the government to follow the Constitution and restore political stability to receive another tranche of the loan. Friendly countries have already informed Pakistan that they will only rescue the country when they receive a green signal from the IMF. Some people have accused the IMF of meddling in Pakistan’s internal affairs. But the fact of the matter is that structural reforms will favour Pakistan and help the country out of the economic mess. Similarly, IMF’s demand for political stability is necessary as the latter requires assurance of the country’s capability to pay back loans in the agreed time frame. A recent United Nations report revealed that millions of Pakistanis will face starvation in the next few months because of depleting foreign exchange reserves and rising food insecurity. Failure to attract economic assistance will restrict the country’s ability to import edibles to feed the masses as the central bank’s reserves can hardly cover two months of imports.
Much of the aforementioned hardships stem from political instability. The stakeholders need to agree on a date for general elections to seek a fresh mandate. A popularly elected government can pave the way for a much-needed economic overhaul. International creditors and investors would also like to work with a government that has a public mandate and can foster long-term stability in Pakistan.
Asad Aziz
Khushab
Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2023.
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