According to Pakistan’s country director for the World Bank, the economy of Pakistan is expected to expand gradually this year. He claimed that Pakistan’s economy was likely to decline by 2.5 to 4 points as a result of the subsequent floods. The national poverty rate is also rising significantly. Furthermore, he expresses to the government his concern that the GDP (gross domestic product) must be balanced this fiscal year in order to halt the economy’s downturn.
The State Bank of Pakistan recently released a report that revealed the deterioration of Pakistan’s economy. The State Bank report is a signal of increased poverty, unemployment, and economic crises throughout the country. Because the US dollar has already surpassed Rs 200 SBP in value, the government should provide and commit $2 billion from the Asian Development Bank and others in this fiscal year. State Bank is unable to meet its internal requirements at this critical juncture. Petroleum prices were expected to fall this year, but this has not yet occurred.
On the other hand, the Finance Minister of Pakistan, Ishaq Dar, expressed potential fallout in dialogue with the IMF (International Monetary Fund). He said that according to the IMF, our ninth review is in order, but that the IMF’s behavior towards Pakistan is totally ignorant.
Former Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PPTI) Finance Minister Shoukat Tarin revealed in a press conference a few days ago that Pakistan had no more reserves, the government was unable to open letters of credit, and Pakistan needed 500 million dollars to stabilize the country (excluding Frontier Airlines debt).
According to senior journalists, political instability played a key role in making the country’s economy worse. They said we could clearly trace the decline in the economy after the vote of “no confidence” against former prime minister Imran Khan in April this year, which led to instability. Because of irresponsibility and too much focus on political issues and opposition parties, they ignore the economic condition of the country, and consequently, Pakistan is now looking for aid and funds from other countries.
In one of the interviews with Dr. Ashfaq Hassan Khan and Dr. Farakh Saleem (both are senior retired economists from Pakistan), while talking with Dr. Shahid Masood, Ashfaq Hassan said Pakistan was forced to be in this economic condition through proper planning and mindset in order to be used by other powers. Moreover, he said, geographically, Pakistan is at a location that has intrigued superpowers to use this trade route for petroleum trading.
The Pakistani government must solve economic problems; most likely, in order to meet financial requirements, they will impose taxes on the general public, which will raise the nation’s rates of poverty and crime.
