Defence Minister Khwaja Asif’s claim that the country’s has already defaulted and that “we are living in a bankrupt country” has created a new furore about Pakistan’s economic meltdown. The defense minister made the claim at a college function in Silakot, heaping the blame on the establishment, bureaucracy and politicians for the country’s bankruptcy.
The defence minister holds “everyone” including the establishment, bureaucracy, and politicians responsible for it, ignoring the fact the masses have been eking out a living hardly enough to sustain them. The financial condition of the country has been thin for many decades. Every government in turn blames the previous government for destroying the economy, emptying the public treasury and looting the country.
Such accusations have also been frequently made by those political parties who have been on the throne of power for four times. Khawaja Asif himself has been elected minister many times. The strange thing is that before the general elections of 2018, the PPP and the PML (N) blamed each other for destroying the economy.
When the Tehreek-i-Insaf was in government for three and a half years, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) constantly agitated over the price hike resulting from the ailing economy. Now, it is constantly being said that the PTI government destroyed the economy, although the diligence and agility with which the PTI government showed to keep the economy running during the global Coronavirus pandemic appeared to be very effective.
Last week, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presented the mini-budget. New taxes of 170 billion rupees were imposed in this. If we look at the data separately, it has become difficult for people to get bread. This situation shows that PDM had no plan to improve the economy. They only wanted power which they got and now new crises are emerging every day.
Pakistan’s economy is being described as Sri Lanka’s. It was reported that Sri Lanka had already gone bankrupt three months ago, but the announcement was delayed. Now when PDM’s leaders have not been able to solve any of the country’s problems, they should show courage and tell the people the whole truth.
The government sometimes trashes the IMF agreement and sometimes blames the Tehreek-i-Insaf government for the economic crisis.
In the era of financial crisis, the 85-member cabinet, poor governance policies, incomplete parliament, ministerial provocations, arrests of more popular opponents and failure to provide effective alternative strategies are adding to the economic damage.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been saying that the lender is in favor of giving subsidies to the needy Pakistanis, but not all can be given subsidies. The situation here is that every scheme of government starts with rewarding its own people and this is obvious from the current dispensation at the federal and provincial levels.
Should Khawaja Asif’s statement be taken seriously is a multi-million question. If taken on its face value, this paints a bleak picture and it may affect many sectors including foreign investment. The government should investigate the issue of unleashing a price hike, ruining the economy and make these investigations public.
