KARACHI:
Our government is celebrating the staff-level agreement for a loan with International Monetary Fund (IMF) as if they have conquered the world. If a broke person celebrated receiving a loan, everyone would consider them crazy and ridicule them. I am baffled and fearful at the same time.
Baffled because on the one hand, we keep trumpeting about being the only nuclear power in the Muslim world, but on the other hand we celebrate a loan of a few million dollars from the IMF. Fearful because I have a feeling that this bailout loan will give our country a respite for a short period, and we will be back in the same situation soon. It was not long ago when the PTI government was bragging about the deal with IMF and telling us that the economy was back on track.
Alas, it did not last long and three years down the road the PDM is telling us the same that the economy is back on track. We have heard this numerous times from our rulers over the past many decades and every time we are back to square one. Unless our politicians set aside their personal vendettas and agree on core principles to take the country forward, I am afraid this farce will keep reoccurring every few years.
Raja Shafaatullah
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2023.
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