The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board meeting finally approved the last tranche of $1.1 billion of the $3 billion Standby Agreement. The only board member that abstained from granting approval was India. This just shows the level of enmity New Delhi has for its neighbour. It does not miss an opportunity to inflict harm – and it does not make any effort to disguise its feeling.
Pakistan needs financial assistance from international bodies to keep its economy afloat. The country is walking on a tightrope and how it navigates depends on how it rulers lead the way. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his finance team are moving at a fast pace to secure deals that can support Pakistan’s economy, bring investments and stabilise the dollar rate and the stock exchange.
The IMF board once again called for carrying out reforms, maintaining a market-determined exchange rate and also protecting the vulnerable from the possible impact of such reforms. So far Pakistan has been fulfilling all the conditions set by the money lender, which it had to avoid any hurdle that could come in the way of the release of the last tranche.
Besides, Pakistan is also aiming to go for a longer programme with the IMF, which was necessary to fulfill its loan repayments and maintain foreign reserves. The most important development had been the Saudi consent to make investments in Pakistan worth billions of dollars.
This could serve as a game changer. With the developments with Saudi Arabia and the IMF moving in the right direction, Pakistan could see a flow of investments and financial assistance from other sources too.
This current government needs to take decisions that do not serve as a stop-gap arrangement. What is needed is to take along both short and long-term policies. In the short term, we need to work on improving reserves, controlling inflation, improving security and putting the economic wheel in motion.
For the long haul, continuous flow of investments, building investor confidence, devising pro-people reforms and ensuring security situation should be the main targets. The current setup has a lot of responsibility, and so does the opposition. There should be constructive criticism that helps in rectification and not adding to complications. Pakistan cannot afford experiments. Therefore, let’s give our country a breather because it is now or never.
