Thread by @ShahrukhWani

Over the next weeks, we're going to hear much on the new IMF deal, much, I fear will be either deliberately exaggerated or painstakingly simplified.

We should take this time to discuss the underlying reasons why we end up requiring a bailout every few years.

Let's do better.

https://twitter.com/murtazasolangi/status/1126756013036544001

Few things:

- IMF hasn't taken over the country.
- All subsidies aren't the same.
- There is a contraction of the economy.
- It was clear that we had to go to the IMF for a while.
- We have gone through this boom-bust before,
- We need to fix our house for ourselves, not IMF's.

What we need to talk about?

Some ideas:

- Why are underlying constraints to productivity?
- What policy decisions and structural reforms can we undertake to improve it?
- Areas where we can reclaim, or build new, comparative advantage?
- How can we institutionalize progress?

So, let's have critical discussions, grounded in evidence, which consider our growth trajectory holistically (which often necessitates multidisciplinary lens).

In short, ask better questions (in other words, be like @KhurramHusain)

Maybe, this is a good time to bring up an older article I wrote on why we might want to look at political power and the institutions which arise from them as the reason why we end up at IMF's door every few years.
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