Arun Joshi
A couple of days ago, Pakistan clinched a $7bn. Deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and it is going to the town with a feel good factor projecting the loan as an elixir for the ailing economy of the country. When a country starts looking at loans as the way out, it is the firm indication that its economy is headed to collapse, and it has lost its own ways of building the economy. That also translates into putting the population to more strains. Now, Pakistan will have to follow the dictates of the IMF and will set in motion a new tax regime, making its population to pay more to survive.
This is an unprecedented situation even by Pakistan’s miserable standards of the past. It is a never-before economic distress situation, this is the conclusion of the media and the economic experts. They have also concluded that Pakistan is at brink and could fall anytime sooner or later. The international loans cannot become piers for its survival as a nation
Three days ago, Dawn, one of the most influential and popular newspapers of Pakistan wrote an editorial underlining the alarming economic situation of the country. The editorial o July 12 edition titled “Misery and Despair” wrote: “A pervasive gloom darkens the days of almost all working-class Pakistani households. From tea shops to opinion columnists in local newspapers, the conversations reflect a growing unsettlement with the status quo. Most serious economists appear increasingly alarmed that Pakistan has sailed too deep into unchartered, treacherous waters. They worry that public mutiny may be inevitable unless there is an immediate course correction, of which there is no sign.”
Such a gloomy picture of Pakistan coming from within reflects how serious is the situation, and the country is not in a position to sustain itself without loans from foreign countries and international financial institutions. The question, however, is,” how long” will it tend to survive on such measures
The situation is so grim that I Pakistan media has highlighted the desperation of the people in the country. “On online discussion forums, increasing numbers of desperate mothers post queries for part-time jobs because they are no longer able to meet school fees and household expenses on one pay cheque. Heart-rending videos on social media document the desperation the desperation of street vendors, labourers, pensioners and widows as they struggle to balance their electric9ty bills and food expenses, while educated professionals are sharing anecdotes about the setbacks they have been forced to implement as they wonder whether they will ever be able to get their quality of life back.” And, they ask a question: “Is a life lived happily and respectably too much to ask for from your country?”
Pakistan cannot hold anyone else responsible for the crisis that it is facing but itself alone. A continuous war of attrition between the military establishment and political class is one of the main reasons which has spelled disaster for the economy and politics of the country. Pakistan, since the very inception, has given too much space to the military that it could not see itself as a country that could survive without the military. The military took advantage of the vulnerabilities of the politicians. The army made politicians to toe their line, and those who dissented were shown out of power. Current situation is a manifestation of that. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in jail and the rag-tag coalition is ruling the country.
In such situations, the army is also facing wrath of the people. They are getting frustrated by the way the army is controlling their lives, and also the way it is leading the country into disastrous paths with its own view and action on foreign policy. At the moment, it is facing what it calls cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan. Pakistani leadership has warned Afghanistan of consequences if the latter did not stop backing Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP that has unleashed a wave of terrorism in Pakistan, killing its soldiers and civilians alike > China is unhappy as Pakistan has not been able to stop terror attacks on its nationals working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. This has placed country in a spot. With so many crises swirling around it, the economic distress is taking the country downhill and the public frustration is growing which, ay result in revolt and civil war.
Disclaimer: This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write-up have nothing to do with www.prameyanews.com.
