Thread by @FahdSheikh3

The #IMF mission has apparently been particularly tough during ongoing negotiations to unlock an additional $1 billion in funding for #Pakistan.

They’ve essentially told #GOP that it has never approached the turnaround of Pakistan’s economy seriously.

brecorder.com/news/40224672

They’ve also cast doubt on the sincerity of #GOP’s intentions going forward, which is why they have decided to literally force some of the fiscal (read: price hikes) and monetary adjustments (read: unpegging of the disastrous #DarPeg) on this hapless #PDM coalition government.

A government whose leader very publicly expressed his frustration the other day when he said that the “#IMF is giving Pakistan a tough time”.

Well it’s about time someone did. The jokers in Islamabad have been recklessly profligate in wasting precious taxpayer resources.

The #IMF mission was probably also quite shocked at the silent 🤫 removal of the military & judicial bureaucracy from the list of high-ranking government officials whose assets are to be declared (read: declassified 😂) as a prerequisite for unlocking the next IMF tranche.

In response to the #IMF’s expression of shock and surprise at the removal of the asset-declaration requirement of ALL high-ranking public officials, FM #DollarDar probably expressed his helplessness 🤷🏻‍♂️ in response, since we all know his boss has been nicknamed “Cherry Blossom”.

So, bottom-line: #IMF means business & will arm-twist its way into extracting fiscal adjustments that it feels are necessary for Pakistan to course-correct its slide towards sovereign default (which policymakers sitting in ISB, RWP, LHE, & KHI still don’t seem or care to fathom).

Once the $1 billion #IMF tranche is in place — post-fiscal & monetary adjustments (fuel price hikes, energy tariff hikes, tax hikes across the board, removal of artificial currency peg, interest rate hikes) — one can expect additional multilateral & bilateral funding to unlock.

One does wonder what our friends in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, and Beijing think of our leadership who fly in 🛩️ every now and then (sometimes twice a month) to plead for more money to prop up this elite-captured, rent-seeking economy. Self-created for their own personal benefit.

There is a name for such people: “Shahi Faqeers”.

A Shahi Faqeer is someone who leads a country or is a member of its top leadership tier, is known to have multi-million / multi-billion dollar assets parked safely abroad, but shamelessly shows up to ask others for 💵 funds.

Our collective leadership across-the-board has literally become the laughing stock of the world today. They seem to have no shame. They wish to continue living on geopolitical rents (“geoeconomics”) perpetually whilst enriching themselves at the expense of 220 million Pakistanis.

Lenders have had enough: “Roll back subsidies, fix circular debt (read: theft), raise taxes & tariffs, and declare assets of those responsible for taking day-to-day decisions in #Pakistan.” And rightly so!

Unfortunately, short-term costs shall be borne by 220 million Pakistanis.