This is apropos 'SBP on debt' by Dr Ashfaque H Khan carried by Business Recorder on Wednesday. The writer, who is a known and respected economist, seems to be on a war path; and his principal objects of attacks are Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Pakistan. Dr Khan was in General Musharraf's team and he did make some valuable contributions towards country's economy. And the General was quite impressed by Dr Khan's dexterity in the realm of economics and finance.
He has argued that "if the current trends in borrowing continue, Pakistan's debt profile is likely to worsen in the next five years. Highly conservative estimates suggest that Pakistan's external debt and liabilities are expected to reach $105 billion or 387 percent of export earnings by 2019-20 from $65.2 billion or 271 percent of export earnings in 2014-15." In other words, he has disputed the 9th Review document of the IMF which has suggested that Pakistan's public debt-to-GDP ratio would decline from the current level of 64.9 percent to 55.2 percent by 2021 by arguing that his suggestion to the SBP is to read the debt forecast of the IMF from one review to another. Doesn't Dr Khan appear quite dismissive of the Fund? Is his a serious approach to the working of a global lending agency?
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