Our leaders seem not to realize the difference between our external and internal debts. Most advanced countries of the world suffer from internal debts amounting to much beyond their GDPs such as Japan, USA, and even China.
But Pakistan’s all debts counted together fall below its GDP. However, our external debts really impinge upon our sovereignty, but they are necessary for our fuel imports and defence needs. But if we did not need to import anything, we wouldn’t have to borrow externally. For example, if we produced electricity from indigenous cheap resources, we would not have to borrow foreign exchange heavily. We are forced to present ourselves every three months before the IMF and they are in fact not interested in our economy but in controlling out geopolitical policies.
Therefore, before they advance us any foreign exchange loans they dictate to us terms that will keep our export-earning capacity in the negative. They only stress upon us to do more and more in the field of taxation, which step in turn suppresses our entrepreneurship resulting in prevention of our industrialization leading to less and less exports and falling foreign earnings forcing us to beg more and more from the IMF. This empowers the IMF to control all our policies and does not let us adopt some really economic friendly policies in order to keep us sub serving them indefinitely.
This vicious circle has been going on since our independence. Presently India has foreign exchange reserves of US 350 billion dollars against our puny 16 to 18 billion. So which country would be more independent? Our country will have to increase exports, find ways to produce cheap electricity and establish industries through direct foreign investment rather than seeking dollars on loans to finance our escalating imports.
Only then we can become an independent country in the real sense and free ourselves from the web of deception woven around us by the IMF and other lenders.
RAFIQ AHMAD,
Muzaffargarh, November 11.