Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani has called it extremely worrisome that the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions are interfering in the internal affairs of the country over the devolution of powers under 18th Constitutional Amendment and are also creating an impression that the National Finance Commission is a futile exercise. The criticism of the senate chairman came at a time when the State Bank of Pakistan has reported that the country’s external debt and liabilities have reached $89 billion. The economists have already feared the external debt and liabilities of the country are fast approaching the $90 billion mark and the government has little options to mend the financial affairs and arrest the depleting foreign exchange reserves. The economists also point out that in principle the total external debt and liabilities are higher by $5.8 billion after the government took $13.2 billion loans just in one year. The volume of external debt and liabilities was $75.7 billion in December 2016 and the gross official reserves were $18.6 billion. According to Rabbani, the IMF has drafted a bill in connivance with the World Bank to control the distribution of resources under the NFC award. The move is strictly against the spirit of the Constitution and the 18th amendment. The Council of Common Interest is a powerful institution to manage the affairs between the centre and the federating units and it assures equal distribution of resources in the country.
The chairman senate is right in his observations, but the country has been mortgaged to the international financial institutions. The situation has reached the point where the donor agencies have started dictating their terms and conditions to run the financial affairs of the country. The piling up of loans has eroded the country’s ability to devise its financial policies on its own and in an independent manner. Industry is the basic source of revenue generation, but it is been heavily taxed for one reason or the other. Most of the industrial units have closed down and the others are on the verge of collapse due to the negligence of the officials who matter. Until the country is able to generate its own resources through indigenous means, the foreign lending agencies will continue to dictate the government of their terms and conditions. Looking toward the IMF for another bailout programme will be a disaster for the economy.
