Pakistan has once again succeeded in positioning itself on the right side of global conflicts. At a time when the country was struggling to fulfil the IMF conditions, China has rolled over a $2 billion loan to Pakistan. For the country, it was a great challenge to repay China its loan because of the financial stresses.
\nIn 2024, Pakistan had secured $7bn bailout package from International Monetary Fund (IMF). The first instalment of the loan is currently under review. There are many conditions that were yet to be met for the country to qualify for receiving an additional $1bn this year.
\nTaxing non-essential items and rationalizing government expenditures were the two main obstacles in the way to meet IMF criterion. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has already taken some drastic steps to acquire efficiency in government setup. For the first time, the country is going to have a civil service mechanism that is tailored to its needs.
\nPlanning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has introduced meaningful reforms but he needs to be cautious of misguided policies that people like Dr Mukhtar, whose tenure as HEC chairman, has been stretched out of all proportions. Recently, he has convinced the minister to issue extended funds for universities, squarly hiding his incompetence behind the teachers\u2019 plight.
\nInstead of throwing good money after the bad, Ahsan Iqbal needs to find some young leadership for higher education so that the bleed of money in this sector is stopped.
\nAccording to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country\u2019s total foreign exchange reserves as of Feb 28 stood at $15.87bn, of which $11.25bn is held by the central bank and $4.62bn by commercial banks.
\nAround the same time last year, the country\u2019s total foreign exchange reserves were $13bn, with SBP holdings at $7.9bn \u2013 indicating a significant improvement over the past year.
\nChina was eager to fill up the gap that highhanded policies of the US President Donald Trump has created in global financial system. Stepping up for Pakistan to consolidate its position against IMF, China has made this offer, which for Pakistan is nothing short of a quantum of relief. Thank you China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan has once again succeeded in positioning itself on the right side of global conflicts. At a time when the country was struggling to fulfil the IMF conditions, China has rolled over a $2 billion loan to Pakistan. For the country, it was a great challenge to repay China its loan because of the financial […]<\/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":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-466357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial"},"yoast_head":"\n