The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, came into being in 1947 with aim to build this country a modern Islamic state, however, Quaid’s vision for this nation has not been fully realized.
If Islamic laws and values had been enacted here, the country would be an Islamic state. Usurious transactions, according to Islam, are equivalent to fighting Allah Almighty, yet unless we enroll in the IMF program, the largest usurer lender in the world, our economy cannot progress.
Earlier, it was also reported that Ministry of Finance and the IMF had agreed on a circular debt control plan. The IMF also issued a warning that stricter constraints will be imposed in the future if its requirements were not met.
On Wednesday, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the new $3-billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Pakistan, and on Thursday, Pakistan’s central bank also received $1.2 billion, the first of three tranches from the IMF.
However, according to the American publication Bloomberg, Pakistan’s debt repayment commitments are six times greater than its foreign exchange reserves. A day after the International Monetary Fund officially approved a $3 billion bailout package for Pakistan; the country’s sovereign dollar bonds saw gains up to 1.7 cents.
The receipt of a fresh loan of $2 billion from Saudi Arabia has turned sentiment positive in the currency market, which helped Pakistani rupee appreciate against the US dollar from a two-week low and end a two-day losing streak.
Moreover, the International Monetary Fund has approved Pakistan’s external financing plan. For the release of its bailout package, the IMF had asked Pakistan to provide it the external financing plan. Then the Ministry of Finance sent the $8 billion financing plan from the friendly countries to the IMF as per its requirement.
According to the in Finance Ministry, Saudi Arabia has deposited $2 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan. $3.5 billion are likely to be received from China. A loan of $1 billion has been taken from the UAE.
The painful truth is that Pakistan is so indebted that it requires additional loans to pay off previous loans. To borrow Ghalib’s words,
Always I had liquor on credit, though always thought as much
This intoxicated adversity will bear some fruit – one day
Ironically, the economy of the country was relatively stable under the so-called dictator General Musharraf, and the country substantially increased its level of self-sufficiency in place of relying on foreign loans.
Isn’t it time for the general public to reflect on the problems with our democracy that put us in the grip of the IMF? If we don’t address these problems, future generations will continue to be enslaved in the same way as we are.
