Is this going to characterise PTI’s style of governance?
After naming and shaming leaders of the two previous administrations for begging for loans from friendly countries and IMF, the PTI too is treading the same path now. The difference is that when obliged to seek foreign loans or IMF’s bailout packages its predecessors did not put a mask on their nose pretending that they had been forced to rake muck, or say one thing while doing quite the opposite. What is more they did not malign their political opponents when pleading for loans in other countries. It is time Imran Khan drops his posture of sanctimoniousness.
Asad Umar feels shy of admitting that the PTI government has already reached a tacit agreement with the IMF to prepare grounds within two months to fulfill some of the basic conditions for a bailout package. The finance minister was adamant on Friday that the present devaluation was not effected in fulfillment of IMF’s demand. According to him what happened was that with foreign exchange reserves having slipped to $7b the rupee value was bound to go out of control.
The cat was let out of the bag by Dr Ashfaq Hasan Khan, a member of the PM’s Economic Advisory Council. Without mincing words, the economist said, “The currency devaluation appears to be the IMF’s prior action for approval of the bailout package.” He maintained that along with the currency devaluation, the interest rates and the prices of electricity and gas could go up further before January. “Pakistan will have to take all these actions, if it wants to get the bailout package approved by the IMF Executive Board in January”.
What Imran Khan said about the rupee fall would not make sense to anyone except himself. The PM who continues to live in the make-believe world of his own says there is no need to panic as the positive economic policies of the government would ease the burden of the people.
It is time for the PTI leadership to be truthful to the people and prepare them for the hardships in days to come instead of leading them down the garden path.
