The news is that World Bank has approved a billion dollar loan to Pakistan, and that Pakistani government will be getting this loan anytime now. Or maybe they have already received it, who knows.
World Bank said that loan is to “support the deepening of Pakistan’s economic reforms”, and that’s pretty much all what it said in a statement that was issued for the public.
If we look at stats, Pakistan’s total current external debt has soared to around $70 billion dollars, which by the way was just $34 billions in 2006.
Starting from 2008, the PPPP government took the external debt bill from $42 billion to $65 billion (approximately) and Nawaz Sharif Government, since it took charge in 2013, got few more billion dollars in loans to take the total count to somewhere around $70 billion dollars.
That’s around 40 billion dollars in eight years and it excludes the grants or free giveaways that Pakistan gets from America and other nations.
Now that’s a lot of money, and it should have changed the look of the country. But in reality, as a commoner, I am clueless on how this loan has done any good for us?
I am not even sure that how it’s applied, approved, used or even repaid. Only thing I know is that Pakistan’s economy isn’t getting better, load-shedding for electricity, gas is still ongoing with nothing changing much.
Yes, prices are going up, my bills are rising, cost of living is increasing and everyone around me is thinking of leaving this place at their earliest.
That’s the picture I usually get.
So here are questions that I am leaving for you to think about:
Question 1: How come our external debt doubled in just a few years and there’s no noticeable difference? Did it get misused?
Question 2: All the politicians I see are either liars or corrupt or both, so how come they are given a free hand to decide on how much loans Pakistan must get?
Question 3: On what basis do they decide the amount of debt that Pakistan gets? What changed after 2006 for us to need so much more debt?
Question 4: Who is going to repay this debt that’s not even being used for the development of Pakistan from the lens of a commoner?
Question 5: Is there any body, court or authority in Pakistan that can be activated as a fail-safe when politicians fail to operate? (No, don’t name army. As the joke goes: If given a chance, they will make the entire country a DHA)