The deadlock with the IMF has gone on long enough. Everybody knows that there will be no progress and no chance of reviving the EFF (Extended Fund Facility) until the government rolls back the petrol and electricity subsidy extended by the previous one in sheer desperation.
\nYet Finance Minister Miftah Ismail felt confident that he could get the Fund to bend to his persuasion, just like Shaukat Tarin and Hafeez Sheikh before him. And, just like them, his best plans were rejected and we are, once again, right back to square one; only this time there\u2019s no time left to take this issue back and forth anymore.
\nThe Fund is right. The program wouldn\u2019t have gotten this far if the previous administration hadn\u2019t signed to implement IMF\u2019s \u201cprior actions\u201d, which included rolling back tax breaks and subsidies. But Imran Khan went back on the agreement when he found himself politically cornered.
\nAnd even though the gambit didn\u2019t work and his government still had to go, the ripples from this move continue to hurt the balance of payments. Now there\u2019s no telling how this and next fiscal year\u2019s deficits are going to be funded, what revenue measures will be required, and what will become of social sector and development programs.
\nThere\u2019s still time to sort this out because, according to some reports, the Fund has given the government another day or two to consider the alternatives. Otherwise, the program will most likely be terminated.
\nBut since the economy cannot survive on its own at the moment, and the loan will give it a much-needed lease of life, it is expected that the government will finally take the bitter pill, and make the people take it too, so the economy can linger on, at least.
\nThis matter should have been resolved weeks ago. But there\u2019s still time to salvage the $6 billion bailout program.
\nThe government must do the right thing and axe the subsidies right now. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The deadlock with the IMF has gone on long enough. Everybody knows that there will be no progress and no chance of reviving the EFF (Extended Fund Facility) until the government rolls back the petrol and electricity subsidy extended by the previous one in sheer desperation. Yet Finance Minister Miftah Ismail felt confident that he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7837],"class_list":{"0":"post-263120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial","7":"tag-no-cigar"},"yoast_head":"\n