Pakistan is drowning in debt due to royal ways of spending by our leadership. They borrowed money from IMF and other lenders and spent it on projects for self-enhancement and projection rather than the needs of the country. Although such projects also had benefits for people, they were not planned and developed to lay the foundations of a strong economy. A lot of borrowed money also went to waste due to mismanagement, delays, and most importantly corruption. Resultantly, the country was not able to pay off the debts in time and had to borrow more. The country is now caught in a vicious debt trap where we are at mercy of international lenders. When we want to borrow more to pay old loans and to further run the country, they enforce their terms that are not people-friendly. The lenders have no concern for people, they only want to protect their loans. While the economy is in shambles and we are completely at mercy of lenders, our leaders are busy blame fixing. Little do they realize that it is not the doing of a single party or person, but all parties and people have contributed to bringing the country into this condition. While the rulers are corrupt, selfish, and incompetent, people tend to have the same traits as well. Nobody wants to pay taxes and corruption has become deep-rooted in the country at all levels. Our leaders must shun their differences and at least agree on some basic issues that pertain to the economy. They should adopt prudence and ensure continuity of projects that strengthen the economy, not their personal grip on power. People should pay their taxes responsibly, enhance productivity, reign their appetite for imported goods, and support the government in every possible manner to take the country out of the economic quagmire. It will be a long way, but if everyone wholeheartedly and honestly works for it, we can steer the economy toward strength and prosperity. If we don’t do this on war footings, I am afraid no amount of weaponry, missiles, and nuclear weapons would be able to save us from extinction.
Raja Shafaatullah
Islamabad
