Former Pakistan PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi says govt's decision to seek bailout from IMF demonstrates "we have failed"

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 29 : Former Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said government's decision to seek bailout from the International Monetary Fund is an admission that "we have failed," Pakistan-based The Express Tribune reported. He stressed that all indicators of the economy are negative.

While addressing the Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore on Sunday, Abbasi said, "Economic growth stalls and inflation rises due to such agreements with the IMF." He further said, "The IMF keeps you alive, but your economic condition deteriorates on every parameter."

He said that people often ask about relief in the annual budget. However, governments starts borrowing for everything. He asserted that no investment will enter Pakistan until the justice system is rectified.

Taking an indirect dig at government's recent initiatives, Abbasi said that governments often distribute flour as a solution to poverty, yet 40 per cent of it gets misappropriated in the process, according to The Express Tribune report.

He said, "Your industry cannot thrive if political issues remain unresolved, as everything is interconnected. Do not harbour the illusion that things will improve spontaneously."

He noted that IMF agreements impede growth and exacerbate inflation. Linking IMF bailout programmes to treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU), he voiced concern over Pakistan's repeated recourse to such measures.

Abbasi said, "This prolonged stay in the ICU won't cure the disease. Show me one dollar of aid that has been utilised to generate revenue," according to The Express Tribune report.

Calling internal debt as Pakistan's foremost challenge, he criticised the government's inability to address its own problems.

In his remarks, Balochistan National Party - Mengal (BNP-M) chief Akhtar Mengal said that neither martial law nor democracy prevails in Pakistan. He said, "It is a dictatorship veiled in the green flag."

Mengal said that all political parties now have nationalist agendas with the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) championing Punjabi nationalism and Pakistan Peoples Party representing Sindh.

Referring to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Amin Gandapur's recent statements, he suggested that even Imran Khan's party has started moving towards Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa nationalism.

Speaking about PTI founder Imran Khan's reported readiness to hold talks with the military establishment, he predicted relief for the party in the coming days, The Express Tribune reported.

He added, "If the events of May 12 can be ignored then the events of May 9 can also be ignored." Notably, protests erupted in Pakistan after PTI founder Imran Khan was arrested

Violent protestors allegedly belonging to the PTI were involved in vandalising acts and attacking state and army properties, followed by a massive crackdown against Imran Khan's party.

On May 12, 2007, several people were killed in Karachi allegedly by the MQM at the wish of Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf during a visit of a sacked chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

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