Amid economic crisis in Pakistan, the country’s defence minister Khawaja Asif said that the country has already defaulted and held ‘everyone’ including the establishment, bureaucracy, and politicians responsible for it. Asserting that it is important for Pakistan to become a stable country, Khawaja Asif said, while addressing a ceremony in Sialkot, “You may have learnt that Pakistan is going bankrupt or that a default or meltdown is taking place. It has already taken place. We are living in a bankrupt country.”
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“The solution to our problems lies within the country. The IMF does not have the solution to Pakistan’s problems,” the defence minister added as per Dawn. The defence minister also said that Pakistan’s current economic crisis is the result of least regard of the Constitution and the country’s rule of law during the last seventy years, the report said.
Pakistan faces decades-high inflation and low foreign exchange reserves depleted by continued debt repayment obligations. The country’s foreign exchange reserves are slightly over $3 billion- not enough for 10-15 days of imports- reports have claimed.
Senior economist with Moody’s Analytics told news agency Reuters that inflation in Pakistan could average 33% in the first half of this year.
“Our view is that an IMF bailout alone isn’t going to be enough to get the economy back on track. What the economy really needs is persistent and sound economic management,” senior economist Katrina Ell said.
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“There’s still an inevitably tough journey ahead. We’re expecting fiscal and monetary austerity to continue well into 2024,” Katrina Ell added saying that .even though the Pakistani economy is in deep recession, inflation is incredibly high owing to the latest bailout conditions.
Pakistan was unable to reach a deal with the IMF last week. “Considerable progress was made during the mission on policy measures to address domestic and external imbalances. Virtual discussions will continue in the coming days to finalise the implementation details of these policies,” IMF said in a statement.
