This is apropos "IMF: The Ninth Review" carried by the newspaper on Tuesday. The writer, noted economist Dr Hafiz Pasha, has begun his argument by saying that "the IMF has once again adopted a soft and sympathetic approach to reviewing Pakistan's performance under the Extended Fund Facility. Two key quantitative performance criteria on net domestic assets (NDA) of the SBP and the fiscal deficit target were missed, as well as the indicative target on tax revenue. Despite this, the ninth review has been successfully completed."
The question is: Asking the IMF to show rigidity towards Pakistan will not add to the woes of people at large? Surely, such an approach will be fraught with dangerous consequences for the teeming millions who are already subject to a variety of regressive taxes while the rulers are not willing to cut government expenditure under any circumstances in an effective and meaningful manner. Although the first phase of the IMF program that was aimed at achieving stability in the country's economy seems to have end, there are no signs of recovery as yet. To add insult to the injury, the IMF Mission Chief's remarks about the "over-valuation" of PKR has led to a currency slide in the open market in particular. Why did Dr Pasha conveniently ignore this key point in his argument while he was discussing the Ninth Review of the IMF?