That Islamic Republic of Pakistan is precariously close to borrowing limit is a fact. Debt has traditionally been considered bad. And it isn’t without reason. The $7 billion IMF lending has enormously added to our debt burden, so to speak.
Be that as it may, legendary Urdu-Persian poet Mirza Ghalib had famously said that “qarz ki piite thae mai lekin samajthe thae ki haan; rang lavegi haamari faaqah-mastii ek din”.
Its transliteration, however crude, could be that “We used to consume a lot of alcohol on borrowed money; however, we were fully aware of the fact that someday our cheerfulness in adversity will come to terrible fruition”. Ghalib was the poet of the 19th century.
Things have vastly changed since, including our successive governments’ approach to drinking alcohol as a loanee. Metaphorically speaking, we have been drinking in abundance while our external debts are growing in much greater abundance.
The current situation can be summarized in the following two-liner making rounds on social media these days: “qarz ki pee pee kay mai aur iss yaqeen e mohakkam kay sath; maaf karwakay rehangay sarary qarzay aik din (We have been consuming alcohol with a firm belief or utmost confidence that we will get all our debts written off).
Last but not least, our government is celebrating the approval of a loan by the IMF Executive Board with an alacrity that has surprised the world.
Daniyal Abrar (Karachi)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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