ISLAMABAD: International Monetary Fund (IMF) considers second tranche of $710 million to the country, while PTI releases white paper blaming PML and Nawaz-led coalition government for economic disaster did.
“[The] The PTI government has put the country’s rapidly declining economy on a fast-growing trajectory despite the coronavirus pandemic that has wreaked havoc across the world. However, the PDM government imposed by the regime change conspiracy reversed all the hard economic gains of the Imran Khan-led government and inflicted an economic catastrophe on the country greater than the cumulative damage caused by floods, earthquakes and pandemics. The white paper states:
White paper claims PDM government subverted PTI’s economic interests
“Economic indicators show that when the PTI took over the government in August 2018, the current account deficit (CAD) for fiscal year 2018 was recorded at $19.2 billion, SBP reserves at $9.4 billion, and $32. It was clear that the company was on the brink of collapse.”The company needed urgent funds to pay off its 1 billion yen loan. Furthermore, the rupee was overvalued by 23% against the US dollar, exports fell by $10 billion over five years, while imports increased by $23 billion, creating a $33 billion hole in foreign exchange reserves, and the fiscal deficit falling to GDP. It was 7.6%. ” he said.
The white paper claimed that the PML-N had overbuilt electricity supply through imported fuel plants with dollar-linked capacity payments, leaving chaos in the energy sector. The circular debt inherited by the PTI government was Rs 1.6 trillion and the annual capacity payment was Rs 4,500 billion in FY18 and increased to Rs 1.4 trillion in FY23.
“…Pakistan has attached strict conditions to the IMF, including a discount rate of 325 bps and an increase in electricity and gas tariffs and fuel prices. “We have reduced this to 5.5% of GDP,” he said.
The report found that even as we face a global commodity supercycle, prices for imports such as petroleum products have fallen from $70 to $115 per barrel, and edible oil has fallen from $780 to $1,500 per tonne. In dollar terms, he said coal rose from $80 to $280 per tonne. , PTI managed to maintain CPI at 12.7% and SPI at 14% in March 2022. Additionally, through aggressive monetary and fiscal policies, the CAD has begun to reduce to less than $1 billion per month.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, it said it had accumulated almost 20 trillion rupees in additional debt in 16 months, compared to 18.3 trillion rupees in 40 months by PTI.
Published at Dawn on November 12, 2023