KARACHI: Former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has warned that Pakistan has reached a point where it desperately needs support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Otherwise, it would move towards default,”
Speaking at a two-day conference organized by the department of economics and management sciences, NED University of Engineering and Technology the other day, he said there was not much of a problem during the three years when the government had an agreement with the funding agency, adding that the last two years had seen a tremendous increase in imports but reduction in exports.
Miftah Ismail said “the gap between our income and expenditure has been increasing over the years. In the last financial year, we had earned $61 billion against the expenditure of $80 billion.”
The ex-finance minister said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project guaranteed the country’s economic progress as China loaned its companies which invested in Pakistan.
Speaking on this occasion, former Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and senior economist Shabbar Zaidi said that CPEC was being lost to the cold war between the US and China. “We must not politicise the project as it’s not an option but rather our need. The country needs $50 billion to improve its infrastructure and address energy shortages,” he said.
Former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Saleem Raza also addressed the conference, saying “for the past three years, we are relying on foreign loans. The gap between food and agriculture production has increased from $2 billion to $6 billion in five years.” He underlined the need for improving the country’s relations with China.
Other speakers like Prof Sarosh Hashmat Lodi, vice chancellor of the NED university, and Prof Noman Ahmed, dean faculty of architecture and management sciences urged the government to make sustainable long-term policies after thorough deliberation and invest in human resources.
