Its no small change, 47 billion rupees. Thats the amount of loans that the central bank told the Supreme Court were written off in the past 12 years. This is not, of course, the complete list, which is said to be much larger. The list includes quite a number of whos who amongst the countrys captains of commerce and industry.
Under the patron-pillage model of Pakistani politics, all governments are charitable towards their coteries (it does begin at home, after all). This can cover a whole manner of sins. First, for the activists there are jobs in government departments, particularly in health and education. Then there are the permit rackets, though these are not just patronage but also simple, old fashioned corruption. Then there is the leverage accorded by the police and the land revenue departments to the party faithful and, finally, comes the writing off of loans, particularly by banks that the government of Pakistan has shares in. Scourges though all of the above might be, it is this last one that makes for statistics that make eyes pop out. In an increasingly monetized society, being given undue favours by the police doesnt quite make for as good a headline as a good 47 billion rupees does.
Getting loans written off can cover the entire spectrum of sophistication. It could be the as-subtle-as-a-sledgehammer approach of sloppily writing an application. Or it can be the most complicated of schemes, replete with legalese and lies, damn lies and statistics. As with the US financial crisis, there is a dearth of experts to correctly differentiate between the genuine cases and the fertilizer. The Supreme Court has its job cut out for it. More power to the courts for disentangling this mess.
