The global situation is not very good. We see war and economic crisis in different countries. We are witnessing inflation and food crisis in Sri Lanka. In order to tackle its debt crisis, Sri Lanka is thinking about stopping payments to IMF and plans to apply for restricting its debt. The country has pay 1 billion dollars next month.
Experts say Sri Lanka will need about 3.3 billion to avert its debt crisis.
Egypt is also facing crisis. It used to import 80% of its wheat from and Russia and Ukraine. It also used to get a lot of tourist from these countries. The war in Ukraine has disrupted these two important things. Like Sri Lanka , Egypt is also on the verge of food crisis to.
Egypt’s currency has also depreciated 14% last week.
This crisis has compelled Egypt to get help from IMF too. The country has approached IMF three times in the recent years. Recently it had received a loan of 12 billion dollars.
The global situation has put a lot of pressure on international financial institutions in the coming days. There was time when loan was easily available from these institutions but now it has become difficult to get loan from them.
However, this time the competition will be tough. International financial institutions will receive applications from a number of countries, including war-torn Ukraine, famine-stricken Egypt and riot-torn Sri Lanka. Because of this, these international organizations will have to make some difficult decisions. These decisions could affect Pakistan as well. This will create a terrible situation which will push the people towards the more chaotic situation which may reach the level of despair that is being witnessed in other countries.
Given this situation, we are forced to wonder why anyone would want to play a leading role in Pakistani politics in such a situation. About a month ago, the then Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen was asked by the IMF how Pakistan would tolerate the ڈی 1.5 billion subsidy package. The previous government had somehow gone through the inquiry but the fact is that any government that tries to lighten the burden of the people with the help of money sought from outside may face similar questions.
In addition to this inquiry, the IMF has also started reviewing the 6 6 billion given to Pakistan in 2019 under the ‘rescue package’. The previous government had said that the money for the rescue package would be refunded. However, this was the promise of the previous government, now that the new government has come, they will surely blame the previous government.
The problem is that the world does not care what the current government has done or what the previous government has done. They are concerned about how to meet the debt deficit and whether Pakistan is a country that can be given more loans. This important question has always been difficult for a country like Pakistan which is dependent on external guarantors for loans from international institutions. At the moment, the future does not look much different.’
However, this time the competition will be tough. International financial institutions will receive applications from a number of countries, including war-torn Ukraine, famine-stricken Egypt and riot-torn Sri Lanka. Because of this, these international organizations will have to make some difficult decisions. These decisions could affect Pakistan as well. This will create a terrible situation which will push the people towards the more chaotic situation which may reach the level of despair that is being witnessed in other countries.
The new government must present its strategy to avoid a debt crisis. Rising prices of petrol, rice and sugar are already breaking the backs of the poor in the country and causing trouble to the middle class.
In such a situation, if concrete steps are taken for the future beyond slogans and promises, it will be more appreciated by the people who were watching the ongoing political drama in Islamabad till now. Slogans may temporarily convey a sense of victory, but hunger survives the screams of need and desire.
This article was published in the Dawn newspaper on April 13, 2022. It was written by Rafia
Maryam's Blog 