The external debt liabilities of Pakistan have crossed $85 billion mark in the second half of the current fiscal year, but the government has signed another loan programme with the World Bank to get $305 million purportedly to support projects in agriculture sector in Punjab and improve nutrition status of women and children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Reports suggest the loan is acquired to assist the Punjab government to promote transformational changes in the crop and livestock sub-sectors. The main focus of activities will be to increase on-farm productivity and value of crops and livestock; increased value addition and competitiveness of crops and livestock, and enhanced resilience of small landowners to climate change and natural disasters. If anybody understands the objectives of the loan, it is only the government policymakers as there will be no visible change in the status of the agriculture sector as well as the farmers at the end. The official bureaucracy always plays with figures and lays down unspecified objectives to satisfy the international donor agencies and create the space for more loans. There is no doubt that the current loan of $305 million will add a burden of at least $1 billion on the national economy in a few years.
The government documents concentrate on possible results area to be achieved through the loan programme, including specific combination of policy reforms, strengthening of the agriculture institutions and public investments. An additional $5 million will be spent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the projects to enhance nutrition for mothers and children. The objectives of the grant are described as scaling-up nutrition intervention to improve the nutritional status of infants under two-year age as well as lactating and pregnant women. There is a need to re-write standard operating system not only for the federal government but also for the provincial governments. There should be a general discussion in the National Assembly and the Senate before the acceptance of the new loans. The incumbent government is allowed to enter loan programmes without taking the parliament into confidence. This leads the economy to go astray. It is the unfortunate aspect of the national politics that every government has added its share of miseries to the national economy. Despite the fact that all the economic variables are in Pakistan’s favour, it has failed to manage business, trade and economy. The governments still rely on foreign loans instead of generating their own resources by developing the industrial sector.
