The messed economic bandwagon has once again stopped at the IMF doorstep. It is utter confusion if statements from the Prime Minister and the Finance Ministry are studied in verbatim, and it seems both the poles of the executive are clueless in shaping a new direction as foreign exchange reserves slump to an alarming less than $5 billion. The PM’s reported telephonic conversation with the Fund’s Managing Director has bred more uncertainty. It is not known whether a delegation from Washington will air-dash to Islamabad to rescue it over the pending 9th Review Program, or the same will be ironed out in Geneva on the sidelines of World Economic Forum. But one thing is for sure — the country’s economy is in dire straits and it can no longer be resuscitated with piecemeal measures.
The new narrative from the government that it wants to complete the terms of the IMF deal paints a nightmarish picture. The economy and the common man are already too burdened at the hands of dictates in raising prices, taxes and other levies, merely in an attempt to keep afloat the arithmetic. It has resulted in chaos and inflation is above 45%, with the value of rupee tarnished to the core. While petroleum products prices have fallen on the international index, the masses are still being fleeced, and the respite is not being passed on. Likewise, shutting down of production units ranging from textiles to automobiles, and exports going down the drain have made it a miserable equation to start collecting the puzzle for a reform.
The coalition government’s one-point agenda at the moment is to keep the lenders on its side so that it is in a position to sail through for presenting a budget by the mid of year. This is quite an opportunist position, and does not address the woes of the masses. In the same vein, it believes another tranche from the IMF to the tune of $1.1 billion will enable it to cultivate a new nexus of accessible funds from friendly countries once again. This matrix the country has played out many times in the past. Will it deliver this time too?
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2023.
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