Let\u2019s not sugarcoat anything; we have been in this situation for decades. Pakistan isn\u2019t failing, but let\u2019s not pretend it\u2019s thriving either. What we\u2019re witnessing isn\u2019t a revival, it\u2019s survival from one IMF tranche to the next and from loan to loan. Well, we can\u2019t call it a repair by just patching a sinking boat with duct tape.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a carefully staged survival.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s face the real truth. The truth that we all know but no one bothers to acknowledge. This country has been stuck in a financial ICU for the last 40+ years. We\u2019ve mistaken IMF tranches and shrinking inflation as economic \u201cwins,\u201d while the real issues grow deeper and more dangerous.<\/p>\n
This year, Pakistan\u2019s inflation dropped to 0.3 percent in April 2025, the lowest in decades. But let\u2019s ask the uncomfortable question: Is it because the economy improved or because people stopped buying? Demand hasn\u2019t just reduced, it\u2019s collapsed. It\u2019s not stability, it\u2019s stagnation. People don\u2019t have cash, jobs, or even hope.<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s current GDP growth of 2.7 percent is only sufficient to keep us breathing; it\u2019s not sufficient to engage our youth, develop existing or new industries, or lift families out of poverty. Approximately 42 percent of the population now survives below the poverty line, and it is no longer confined to rural areas; it\u2019s now urban.<\/p>\n
And yet, the government continues to rely on the same old playbook: go to the IMF, take a loan, make temporary cuts, repeat. Since 1958, Pakistan has entered 25 IMF programs (it\u2019s no longer emergency help; it\u2019s addiction,) most recently receiving a $1 billion release and a $1.4 billion climate resilience package in May 2025. We now owe $131 billion in external debt, out of which $22 billion is due this year alone. Nearly 10 percent of our GDP goes into paying off just the interest. Imagine working hard every day and having all your salary go to the lender; you eat what\u2019s left, if anything. That\u2019s Pakistan right now.<\/p>\n
Regardless of a 6.7 percent cut in the budget this year, the government has increased the defense sector budget by 20 percent, whereas funding for education, digital infrastructure, and climate resilience remains low. For clarity, I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m against the defense budget, but I\u2019m emphasizing the need to allocate equal importance to education and health, which are essential for the common people. Roughly around 1.3% of Pakistanis pay income tax, yet the salaried & middle class are burdened with direct or indirect taxes on electricity, petrol, and basic goods.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, our agriculture sector, which still employs over a third of our population, is now collapsing. Cotton production is down 30.7 percent, wheat 8.9 percent, maize 15.4 percent. The climate crisis is no longer a threat; it\u2019s a reality that is again being ignored by our government. The 2022 floods displaced 33 million people and caused $30 billion in damage, yet serious climate adaptation plans are missing in action, and our government is simply trying to leverage this point to borrow some extra dollars.<\/p>\n
To put it bluntly, Pakistan does not have an economic model. We have a loan model. We borrow, we repay, and we borrow again. Nothing is built sustainably. Nothing grows. Nothing transforms. And that comes at a brutal cost.<\/p>\n
What we need to change?<\/strong><\/p>\n We have all grown tired of hearing that Pakistan is rich in this sector and that sector, but unfortunately, those are all just stories. We have to keep in mind that every new IMF loan is a bandage on a bullet wound. It keeps us from bleeding out, but never heals the injury. This is not just an economic crisis, it\u2019s a moral crisis as well.<\/p>\n Pakistan\u2019s youth, entrepreneurs, and real taxpayers deserve more than survival. We deserve dignity, direction, and a real plan. And that begins by calling this what it is, not progress, but delay. Not revival, but repetition. The first step forward is admitting we\u2019ve been standing still. We have to keep in mind, \u201cIndeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let\u2019s not sugarcoat anything; we have been in this situation for decades. Pakistan isn\u2019t failing, but let\u2019s not pretend it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n\n