Pakistan's current economic conditions resemble those of Sri Lanka, with a default just around the corner, says financial analyst Khurram Husain.
The analyst told Khabar Say Aagay host Raza Rumi that the fallout of the hybrid system's failure was not expected to be so impactful.
"We can escape it via IMF deal but we will have to pay a heavy political price because the conditions are tough," Husain added.
He highlighted that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar wasted months and stalled IMF programme, which led to an economic deterioration.
Mosharraf Zaidi blamed 'wrong decisions' for the fiscal crisis, adding that the decision-makers do not have the skill to pull the country out of its predicament.
Analyst Murtaza Solangi said, "Those who are responsible to bring Pakistan to an edge should bear some of the burden of the IMF's conditions."
On Jan 19, Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha said that the government was willing to accept all conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to revive the deal with them.
“The government is willing to make tough decisions,” Pasha said during a briefing to the Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance.
According to the minister, the government doesn’t want to burden people, but that the ‘IMF wants to steer us in a different direction.’
The lawmaker highlighted that the country was up against tough times. “The situation is extraordinary and it calls for efforts in unison,” she stressed.
Pasha added that the government was fully cognisant of the situation and in process of engaging the IMF.
“The notion that we do not have a crisis-management plan at work is false,” she maintained.
According to a report, Pakistan is facing existential multi-dimensional crises of politics and economy with a highly dysfunctional state. It is about much more than democracy and debt. Short-term fixes and political engineering may not work this time. The country needs a radical break from the past policies but nobody wants to do it.
Hence Pakistan could sink deeper into the quagmire especially if the IMF programme is not resumed within the next few weeks. There is no sign that the talks with the IMF are going to start soon as was previously indicated by the prime minister.
Flagship Naya Daur TV show Khabar Say Aagay streams Monday to Saturday at 9pm.
https://youtu.be/yi7qmIwEJ-E