The Anti-Debt Campaigners in Pakistan have called upon the rich donor countries as well as the international financial institutions (IFIs) to cancel all foreign debts of Pakistan owed to bilateral and multilateral creditors.
They urged the lenders to extend Pakistan grants, rather than loans, which are essential for Pakistan to develop the means to withstand such disasters as floods in future. They said, "It is nothing short of crime that a country as poor as Pakistan is bled of resources every year to repay borrowers, who extended unjust loans to that country over decades. It is vital that desperately needed emergency aid is effectively swallowed up in debt repayments and a freeze on such payments must be called immediately."
Talking to media here on Sunday at Lahore Press Club the Campaign for Abolition of Third World Debt (CADTM) International member from Belgium Stephanie Jacquemont, who is currently in Pakistan to show solidarity with Pakistan's Anti Debt Campaigners, urged her government to write off Pakistan's loans.
The CADTM Pakistan's focal person Abdul Khaliq Shah said the current external debt of Pakistan stands at $55 billion. This figure will jump to $73 billion in 2015-16 as debts that were rescheduled after 9 / 11 in exchange for Pakistan's co-operation in the war against terror will come back into action.
Shah observed that besides this, Pakistan is paying over $3 billion on debt servicing every year on average. As for FY 2010-2011 this amount is over $5 billion, which Pakistan will be paying to its creditors amid 20 million people crying for most urgent basic needs, food, clothes, shelter, health and education
Shah pointed out that major portion of Pakistan's foreign debts was obtained during the dictatorial regimes of General Ayub, General Yahya Khan, General Zia and General Musharraf. About 80 per cent of the total foreign debt was contracted during these autocratic regimes. He maintained the people of Pakistan did not benefit from the foreign loans provided to late General Ziaul Haque, as it was spent on building the infrastructure for running the Afghan Jehad.
He said, "in most of the cases, these loans were spent against the wishes of the people and benefited only a specific segment of society. This debt is illegitimate and is not binding on the people of Pakistan and the current democratically elected government has legitimate right to refuse payment of these loans."
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