PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif has adopted a realistic approach by describing the latest agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a ‘breather’ and a ‘moment of concern’, urging all the national institutions to make concerted efforts to rid the country of loans and put it on the course to progress. Chairing a meeting of the Federal Cabinet on Monday, he said while remaining in their respective jurisdictions, the institutions should make a united effort for at least next 15 years to address the country’s economic woes.
No doubt, the finalization of the accord with the IMF is being hailed as it offers a temporary relief to the resource-starved country but there can be no two opinions that it is not an occasion to celebrate but to plan for the future in a serious and determined manner to ensure greater self-reliance and restoration of the lost dignity and honour of the heavily indebted country. As the Prime Minister made a plausible appeal to the institutions to remain strictly within their constitutional domains allowing the country to benefit from the continuity of policies, the quantum of the challenge can be gauged by the latest report of the two credit rating agencies — Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings — warning that Pakistan will require significantly more funds than what it’s receiving from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to meet its debt maturities and to finance its economic recovery. They noted that Pakistan has to repay $25 billion in the current fiscal year to meet its debt obligations. The repayments include both principal and interest, and are about seven times Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves. Of course, the government has a plan to attract foreign investment in a big way in important sectors of the national economy which might increase debt repayment capability of the country and reduce dependence on foreign loans on medium to long term basis but it all depends on political stability and harmonious working of the entire system. The governance has suffered hugely due to the tendency of experiments, institutional infighting, encroachment in each other’s domain, apathy towards rule of law and fatal disruptions in otherwise prudent economic policies due to myopic approach of the stakeholders. The Prime Minister has made an appeal to the institutions to remain within their parameters for 15 years but in fact they should function perpetually so under the constitutional scheme of things that provides a clear framework for all of them. Supremacy of Parliament must be accepted by all in letter and spirit and Parliament itself should strive to play its role in an effective manner. It is the responsibility of the political parties to field candidates for the National Assembly/Provincial Assemblies as well as the Upper House who have a clean background and have a calibre to contribute their share to national progress and development. No doubt, the IMF programme has sent a positive wave through the markets with stocks surging the most in 15 years on Monday and dollar bonds extending their best run ever. But these are transitory gains which would disappear in weeks and months if no complementary efforts were made for increased resource generation. A foreign-based noted scholar aptly stated that Pakistan “has left itself almost completely at the mercy of foreign assistance — this is the real sin of its political elite.” Politicians, however, complain they are not getting free hand because of frequent distractions by institutions and in this backdrop the Prime Minister has rightly stressed for collective efforts particularly by all institutions to give a future roadmap and policy guidelines so that the current IMF deal proves to be the last for Pakistan. There are reasons to believe that the Pakistan Army has taken a conscientious decision to augment efforts of the government for economic recovery as is evident from the role played by the Army Chief General Asim Munir in securing much-needed external financing and its offer to facilitate the economic recovery through the recently announced strategy. We hope the judiciary as an institution would also review its role and extend whole-hearted cooperation for this cherished objective while remaining within the ambit of the Constitution.
