ISLAMABAD: Whoever wins Pakistan’s elections has a fight on their hands — not just against the Taliban, but negotiating with international backers to provide a multi-billion-dollar bailout for a country that has habitually used aid as a crutch to avoid reform.
Pakistan is gambling that the international community will not allow a nuclear-armed country of 180 million people to go bust, especially one that is a hot-house for anti-Western and anti-Indian Islamist militants.
Unless the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provides another transfusion Pakistan’s finances could hit the wall in the next six months or so. Talks have already begun.
“If they don’t get an IMF loan and happily muddle along the way things are, you could be facing a default later this year,” said economist Sakib Sherani.
“But it depends on the counter-measures the government would take.”
The loan probably will come through, though the IMF may make the government that wins Saturday’s vote sweat over the conditions attached.
AFP
