The present rulers cried hoarse in telling the nation that the tall claim of breaking the begging bowl was achieved by them as promised. The nation is grateful but confused on the news that $440 million have been obtained from Japan as developmental aid, and World Bank and other IFIs have been requested for loan amounting to $10 billion for power projects and dams construction.
Paul Wolfowitz, President of World Bank has announced a development and poverty alleviation aid of $1.5 billion and $2 billion for roads and railway infrastructure development.
The Pakistani nation only knows of growth and development in its internal and external debt liability stands today as Rs 2,018 billion and $36 billion. Our foreign debt liability upto 1977 was $2.2 billion, this liability has increased manifold while no project of economic prosperity in the country has since been launched.
Corruption has been let loose under even the World Bank umbrella, which patronised induction of highly cost inflated IPPs in 1993 onward, which has escalated the miseries of the people of Pakistan, who have no say in the whole drama.
Every government promises that these loans will be only spent on the purpose for which they are obtained and our parliament has finally passed a fiscal responsibility and debt limitation law to establish fiscal discipline in the country.
But ever since the passing of this law, parliament appears to be docile and reluctant to have its grip on the massive financial indiscipline going on, and moreover the Public Accounts Committee also appears to be a toothless body of the parliament.
The only good omen has been that the government has contradicted the news that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is not going to occupy the second top slot in the World Bank as its Managing Director for Asia, in a proposed expansion plan of the two posts for Asia and Africa in the World Bank, mainly because Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is committed to establish a transparent financial discipline and accountability, so that these development loans bear some fruits for the common man in the changed shape of begging bowl and arrest poverty, which is increasing at a rapid scale in Pakistan.
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