According to newspaper reports, Pakistan is expected to receive $700 million from the Asian Development Bank next week to cover half of the cost of clean energy, disaster risk management, canal extension and public-private partnership investment projects. At least $325 million will be spent on the access to clean energy investment programme to provide electricity to vulnerable communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. A French development agency will contribute $78.6 million to the clean energy investment project over a period of up ten years in cooperation with provincial governments of the two provinces. At least $125.33 million will be spent under the National Disaster Risk Management Fund project to reduce disaster risk and manage residual impacts of natural hazards and climate variability in the country. As the loans are increasing, the economy is sinking and the government policymakers have failed to adopt any country as a role model to streamline the economic affairs.
It is not a secret that South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand were enduring utter poverty afew decades ago, but have rapidly developed their economies in few years. Now India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are going on the road of progress with leaps and bounds but Pakistan is nowhere in sight on the canvas of the international trade. The government is apparently counting its days to complete the tenure, leaving the nation under the burden of heavy loans. The fault line is here, but were are in a habit of blaming the others for it. The country requires a proactive and sincere leadership, but the Pakistani leaders in the government and the opposition only look to their vested interests and the country is losing its grip on business and economy. The only hope is the China Pakistan Economic Corridor but the project is also being made controversial and the government is sitting idle in a comfortable zone.
People want hope and inspiration, but the government is trying to squeeze their businesses to enhance its revenue. The international donor agencies are praising the government policies to protect their own interests. Ironically, the much hyped macroeconomic stability is being maintained on the basis of loans. There is no need to take loans to spend on the non-earning sectors. The world financial institutions offer loans to underdeveloped nations for their own benefits and there is no point to rejoice on the approval of new loans.The future of the country lies in the trade and industrial development and not in obtaining loans on one pretext or the other. The government should now wake up and take revolutionary steps to boost the economy.
