AS the debt issue has become one of the major concerns of most of the countries of the globe, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif did well by highlighting it during his address to the SDG Moment 2024 Meeting on the sidelines of 79th United Nations General Assembly Session in New York. He called upon the developed nations to help the developing countries come out of debt traps mainly caused by the climate change related natural disasters.
The Prime Minister made a strong case for resolution of the difficulties being faced by developing countries like Pakistan, which are forced to obtain loans on high interest to compensate for the losses they incur for no fault of theirs. In this regard, he rightly pointed out that in 2022 Pakistan was hit by the worst flooding in its history due to climate change, adding it was not the fault of the country as it does not contribute even a fraction of a percent in terms of carbon emissions. The unprecedented floods caused a damage of $30 billion to Pakistan’s economy, forcing the country to borrow more for rehabilitation activities. Similarly, Pakistan lost US$150 billion in its campaign against terrorism, which was aimed at making the region and the world safer to live in. However, the country has been left on its own to deal with the menace despite the fact that it is once again becoming a monster because of resource constraints of the country. It is quite evident that the country cannot spare adequate resources for the war against terror to take it to the logical conclusion. The country and its people are paying a heavy price for costly loans and the repayment capacity is squeezing with the passage of every day. As for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both the federal and provincial governments are doing their best to meet targets set for social sectors especially education and health but meaningful progress is again linked to availability of resources. In this backdrop, it has become imperative for the rich countries, the IMF and the World Bank to come out with formidable plans for debt relief, carbon financing and climate action.
