According to media reports, the visiting IMF chief Christine Lagarde praised Pakistan for emerging from an economic crisis and stabilising its economy, after the country completed its bailout programme. The IMF released the last instalment of a $6.6 billion three-year economic bailout package to Pakistan last month. Meanwhile, a beaming finance minister Ishaq Dar has said t6hat after achieving economic stability, the government's focus is now on growth and acknowledged the downside risk to the economy is associated with the external balance of payment position.
How ironic, however, it is that it took nearly four years for this government to stabilise economy before it can lay its focus on economic growth. The result, therefore, is an alarming increase in the number of jobless people in the country. The rising government expenditure has ostensibly stopped the government from ignoring the criticality of growth. The IMF is a lender. Period. It has enabled you to pay off interest on debt obligingly. The total amount of debt servicing every year is higher than the size of country's development budget or spending.
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