The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) has said that the only option available to Pakistan is accepting strict conditions of the IMF but instead making of the public a scapegoat, this bitter pill of IMF conditions should be fed to the elite also. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Chairman PEW Muhammad Aslam Khan stressed that all the unnecessary government expenditure and all privileges of the ruling classes should be abolished so that the people get a few sighs of relief.

He said that the elites have completely hijacked the country's system, due to which Pakistan has been entering from one crisis to another. Now the plunder of the elite has increased to such an extent that the country's integrity is in danger, he added. Aslam Khan observed that not a single ruler of Pakistan has ever worked seriously to eradicate elitism, correct the direction of the economy, improve governance, eliminate corruption, reduce unemployment and get rid of debts.

The rulers did not have any positive target and they never preferred to work within their means but they always preferred to spend heavily and always ran the country with the borrowed money, he said and added that the one who is an expert in begging is considered a great economist therefore the whole country has become addicted to loans.

At that time, Chairman PEW said the only way to maintain the state is debt while addiction to loans blocked the way of industrial and agricultural development in the country. When the western countries turned their backs on Pakistan, we went to Saudi Arabia, China, and the Gulf states, who gave loans worth billions of dollars to Pakistan but now they are no more interested in lending to Pakistan. 

He was of the view that in the prevailing status of the country’s economy, neither industrial production nor exports were possible without the large-scale imports of raw materials, machinery and parts. Aslam Khan said, “A nation that makes atomic bombs does not have the ability to make simple motorcycle engines or power looms. The agricultural country does not have the ability to manufacture tractors, basic agricultural equipment, chemicals, and parts, due to which pulses, vegetables, fruits, cotton, and wheat have to be imported.”

In Pakistan, all emphasis is placed on the development of property and the stock market, while industry and agriculture are neglected, he added. The Chairman PEW said that due to the lack of the required number of oil refineries to meet the country's needs, billions of dollars are being lost annually and this is a waste of resources. The wastage of resources continues and there are no signs of any change for the sake of Pakistan.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP