Pakistan’s real foe is its expenditure habit: caretaker PM Kakar

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Saturday said that Pakistan needs to alter its expenditure and revenue generation in order to ensure survival.

“In short, I wonder why the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is being treated as a foe. It is not a foe neither is it a friend,” said Kakar.

“The real foe is our expenditure habit and the way we generate revenue,” he said.

He passed these remarks during an interactive session with a delegation of students from Harvard University, who are in Pakistan on a visit.

He said that Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio is too low at around 9%.

The caretaker prime minister shared that his government intends to enhance its tax net.

“How to bring in the non-documented economy and enhanced the tax network. How do we invest in our human resources, do we manufacture goods or develop our individuals and sell services.

“So these are the two areas on which broadly we will focus,” he said.

The caretaker PM said that the country is gifted with talent and, “we need to put more into our human resource.”

On relationship with the US, the caretaker PM said that Pakistan seeks long term partnership with the US.

“We are rational enough to engage in this relationship, but it doesn’t mean we agree with everything that America does and of course, we have a very healthy disagreement,” he said.

Delving on the historic Pakistan-US ties, Kakar elaborated the contributions made by the South Asian nation.

Kakar said Pakistan has a “healthy, wealthy and engaging vibe” towards the US.

Kakar said Pakistan sees the US as a big power but at the same time wants to see it to turn itself into a great power.

“We want to partner that journey of greatness along with the US,” he said.

Kakar said it was not possible for a nation to “divorce itself” from America if it wanted to remain connected with global technology, research and development.

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“We are rational enough to engage in this relationship, but it doesn’t mean we agree with everything that America does and of course, we have a very healthy disagreement.”

He further said that one should not forget that the capitalist system’s frontline state was Pakistan.

“The entire gross domestic product of the Western hemisphere … probably $20 trillion or $40 trillion… is preserved because we fought a war with Marxist ideas where the Soviet regime, along with the whole of Eastern Europe, was giving and demonstrating an alternate political and economic system.

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“If we wouldn’t have fought from 1979 to 1989, the $30 trillion of the capitalist economy wouldn’t have been there, we contributed to that … we were in the forefront, but I feel at times we fail to articulate what we have contributed towards global peace, global security and global economic and financial institutions.”

While answering a question, Kakar said that Pakistan was working on developing a “social contract” to ensure that the rights of the citizens were protected.

On Friday, the Harvard students also interacted with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, as per Aaj News.

In his remarks, the COAS said that Pakistan was acting as a “bulwark against terrorism” and called on the international community to realise the immense sacrifices rendered by the country.

The army chief also highlighted Pakistan’s rich potential and urged the participants to perceive the country based on their experiences during their stay.