IMF Program ki Manzoori Main takheer kay peeche kia Wajuhat hai? Expert Analysis

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#imf #pakistan #pakistaneconomy #aniqanisar #khabar   IMF Program ki Manzoori Main takheer kay peeche kia Wajuhat hai? Expert Analysis

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00:00Mr. Haroon, first of all, we are going to the IMF for the 24th time.

00:04We are fulfilling the prerequisites for the 24th time.

00:08And we have no other option.

00:11If a common citizen is going to run his house for the 24th time,

00:17and the shopkeepers tell him to ask other shopkeepers

00:21if they can knock on the door,

00:24then one thinks, should we go for the 25th time or not?

00:28Are we on those lines?

00:29Or have we not started thinking about it yet?

00:32Yes, Nika, thank you.

00:33Look, there is a loss of credibility at the moment.

00:39We have increased our exposure in friendly countries

00:44and we are not able to satisfy them on our economic gain plan

00:50that the money we have taken from you will be returned in this way in this period.

00:56For that, we need a very strong growth plan

01:00which is vetted by international experts

01:03so that our friends are satisfied.

01:07I want to talk a little about the IMF.

01:11But our presence in the IMF

01:16whose job it is to strengthen Pakistan's case and take it forward,

01:22unfortunately, historically,

01:28we appoint a retired bureaucrat as a reward

01:34for those who have no interest and have retired.

01:38Secondly, a junior man is sitting in the IMF.

01:41In the IMF, we need economists of macroeconomics

01:44who can speak their language.

01:47So, one is our weakness there.

01:49Secondly, politically, Pakistan is not the preferred country of the IMF shareholders.

01:58And we understand this.

02:00Look, 16.5% of the shareholding is in the US,

02:046% is in Japan, 6% is in China,

02:07although China is on our side.

02:09Then 4%, 4%, 4% is in France, Germany and the UK.

02:14Like the IMF-UN, no one decides on consensus or one vote.

02:18It decides on the economic muscle, on the savings it has.

02:23And you know that these countries see us from China's point of view.

02:27That means we have to do more strong economic diplomacy in Washington

02:32so that our case goes ahead.

02:34When we sign a staff-level agreement,

02:38the third mistake we make,

02:39I have worked from that side for 18 years,

02:42the third mistake we make is that

02:44whenever there is a staff-level agreement,

02:46we start giving political populist statements.

02:50It's a process.

02:52Why are you talking about Mr. Ishaq Dar, Mr. Harunchali?

02:56No, everyone does this.

02:58Look, there was no need to give the date of August yet,

03:03unless, as they say in banking,

03:04until the cheque is in the mail,

03:06you don't announce it.

03:08You see, there are steps.

03:10When a staff-level manager goes to the executive committee,

03:16which is run by Kristina Georgieva and Geeta Gopinath,

03:21they make it a priority.

03:23Then it goes to the executive board, as I said,

03:26which has a shareholder for power decisions.

03:30All the members have it.

03:32Mr. Harun, one thing we want to achieve with this

03:35is macroeconomic stability.

03:37But what about microeconomic stability?

03:40That stability which is important for a common citizen.

03:43Because in this context,

03:45even shutting down utility stores is being seen as a step

03:48for the poor.

03:51And because of that, the poor will have a lot of problems.

03:54It's difficult to get a subsidy at one place.

03:56So, is our focus there?

03:59Yes, look, this is a more important question for this.

04:03Look, we have already gone to the IMF 23 times.

04:06It will happen 24 times in a row.

04:08But it is dangerous to ask for more deposits from other countries

04:14because your vulnerability increases on the diplomatic side.

04:18Now, let's look at our current situation.

04:21100 million people are on the brink of poverty or below.

04:26Joblessness, your employment rate has fallen.

04:3130 lakh children are coming to the market.

04:34Now, for this, we need 4-5 proactive policy shifts.

04:40Now, what are those policies?

04:42If you want to revive the industry, which the IMF does not stop,

04:46then you need investment and industrial policy.

04:50I ask everyone, tell me,

04:53do you see a champion in the current cabinet leadership?

04:59Do you see one, Mr. Harun?

05:02I don't even know the name, to be honest.

05:04You don't know the names of the cabinet members?

05:06Honestly, I don't know who is the minister of our industry.

05:10You may know.

05:12That is very interesting.

05:13I am not talking about myself.

05:16I talk to investors from all over the world,

05:19I talk to people, nobody knows.

05:20So, you are saying that the government is not doing

05:23what it should do for the ease of doing business

05:26of the people who should be in contact with the industry?

05:29Look, the government has to reach out to people right now.

05:33The person who people trust, reaches out.

05:37Right?

05:38Now, I don't see a champion in our commerce ministry,

05:42nor on the industry side.

05:43It is wrong to put everything on finance.

05:47Unfortunately, the coordination of the planning commission

05:49and finance, which we read, is also weak.

05:52We have few economists, and I am not criticizing this.

05:56I am telling what is my perception of people

05:59and what is the perception of people.

06:01We have to go towards some targeted subsidies.

06:05If you look at the expenses on the utility store,

06:08what we are doing,

06:09this is the same circular debt that is eventually created.

06:12That you make expensive electricity and sell it cheap.

06:14Mr. Haroon, let's look at this from a different angle.

06:17We, subsidies, targeted, untargeted, generic, specific.

06:22Leaving these,

06:24provide opportunities for our people

06:27so that they automatically get employment.

06:30We shut down the internet here.

06:31The children, the freelancers, the youth,

06:34the IT companies are sitting hand in hand at this time.

06:38What should we do now?

06:39We had made a way to reduce the exchange rate.

06:42We put that aside.

06:43So, don't do it.

06:44You don't give subsidies.

06:45You don't stick to your politics.

06:47At least the government can do this.

06:49Yes, I am telling you,

06:51you need a policy shift

06:54and you will have to build a consensus on it

06:58so that market-based employment opportunities can be created.

07:02People should have access to managerial skills,

07:06access to markets,

07:07access to finance,

07:09and targeted.

07:10I will give an example.

07:11Just now I was listening on TV

07:13that the toll on the motorway has been increased from X to Y.

07:17If this toll is doubled for land cruisers

07:21and halved for smaller vehicles,

07:24then it is a targeted subsidy.

07:26You are giving it from the rich to the poor.

07:29Similarly, if you have to give coupons for food,

07:32you should target it along with BISP.

07:35But the government will dole out taxpayers' money in a populist way.

07:43It is not sustainable in a country that does not have liquidity.

07:47Right.

07:48Okay, last question.

07:49You are also a member of the privatization committee.

07:53So, you know what is going on inside.

07:56We have been hearing about privatization for a long time.

07:59Do you see that it will happen at some point?

08:04Or is there less hope for the world?

08:06Yes, again, our track record is that

08:09apart from offloading some companies' shares,

08:12we have not been able to do good privatization for the past 15-20 years.

08:18Now, the question arises that why don't we question ourselves

08:22that if the whole world does it?

08:23First of all, let me tell you

08:25that selling family silver is not a policy.

08:30The policy is that the government does not want to do business.

08:34That is why we will either restructure the institutions,

08:36or give them management, or privatize them.

08:39That is the job of the experts.

08:41Okay.

08:41If you read the law of the privatization commission,

08:43the experts were supposed to run this auction house.

08:47We made it a ministry.

08:49We established it.

08:50That was the establishment.

08:52Now, when I was a member of the cabinet committee,

08:5427 projects used to come for privatization.

08:57After that, there used to be a tug-of-war.

08:59Then, six used to go back.

09:00Even today, unfortunately,

09:02That is what is happening.

09:03May God change this, Mr. Adam.

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