Pakistan finally appears to be heading out of the seemingly neverending tunnel of doom and gloom as the International Monetary Fund approves the seventh and eighth reviews of the bailout programme. Quite a big and crucially-needed win for Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, who has lately been fending off attacks from all quarters over policies that do not promise any consolation to the masses. But as the much-needed funds arrive as a life-saving sigh of relief\u2013shoring up foreign exchange reserves and ensuring the availability of necessary imports\u2013the state needs to cut the celebrations short and immediately get down to the business of structural reforms.
\nStruggling from the worst onslaught of what the UN chief called a \u201cmonsoon (season) on steroids,\u201d most of the country is still under water and, therefore, needs at least $10 billion to cover the bare minimum of damages.
\nThe looming food shortage in the wake of vast swatches of farmlands being swept away and the crippling infrastructural breakdown is another heart-wrenching saga altogether. Add to that the enormous current account deficit on top of raging inflation and the much-touted comfort in steering out of the default threat, unfortunately, reduces to a short-lived period of peace before chaos strikes again. Nothing more. Nothing else.
\nJust as distressing has been the misery of an average Pakistani forced to bear the brunt of painful corrective measures. That Washington-based lender is ready to disburse $1.2 billion to ease the instant troubles should not discount the planning to come out of the ongoing balance-of payments impasse. This fixation with borrowing money from here, there and everywhere needs to end now.
\nAfter all, there should be a limit to how many times a country books a bed in the ICUs of economies; begs for a shot of adrenaline and merrily continues with its old ways. Since Mr Ismail is already suffering from being in the bad books of everyone, he could also embark on another crusade to boost domestic productivity, invite foreign investment and finally begin to head towards an arrangement that strikes a balance between our income and expenditure.
\nOf course, all this is easier said than done and putting the wagon on a sustainable path would be nothing short of a miracle. But then again, what is Pakistan, if not a living example of divine manifestations?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan finally appears to be heading out of the seemingly neverending tunnel of doom and gloom as the International Monetary Fund approves the seventh and eighth reviews of the bailout programme. Quite a big and crucially-needed win for Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, who has lately been fending off attacks from all quarters over policies that […]<\/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":[10409],"class_list":{"0":"post-280743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial","7":"tag-some-good-news"},"yoast_head":"\n