Musharraf : The Benefactor of Pakistan
By Gul Raiz • Nov 23rd, 2008 • Category: Politics, Worth A Second Look • 12 Comments •Pakistan is a sovereign country and must not allow anyone, Nato or foreign militants, to disturb national peace and security. During the era of President Pervez Musharraf, there were no boots on the grounds. The air strikes were very very rare, and ISAF forces thought thousands times before they dared to attack from the air, and that were also just near Durand line, and the deaths of civilians were equal to none.
Also, the President Musharraf made sure that in lieu of Pakistani support to the US, Pakistan’s economy didn’t get a blow and the fruits of American largess trickle down to the masses. Electricity was there, gas was there, food was there, and the business was thriving producing more and more jobs. Technology swept from Karachi to Khyber and the foreign investment was coming. Companies like Etisalat, Siemens, Warid, Telenor, China Mobile, Google and host of others opened their offices and the giants like Dell, HP started thinking about opening their operations units in the country. PhDs were produced in abundance, and the level of living was improved.
Then came, out of nowhere, a judge who took oath under Musharraf’s PCO and he along with some characters who submitted list of Sikhs to India started raising hell. Media was liberated by General (r) Musharraf, but some anchors who were paid obscene salaries became hell bent to defame Musharraf, and the country came to a stand still. Thugs of previous decades came back and in their greed of power, they tried to black-mail the soldier who was committed to take Pakistan in a new era of prosperity and dignity.
So much intrigues and conspiracies were hatched that confusion, anger and frustration became the anger of day. Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary always knew that he was never going to be restored, and he just played a pawn. Aitzaz Ahsan never left PPP while Nawaz Sharif never staged a serious campaign for the restoration of so-called judiciary, more than half of which has been restored, and many have reached to their retirement limit.
Where are we now? We have Musharraf no more. We are bankrupt and begging throughout the world and standing at the door of same old monster IMF. We dont’ have power, gas, food, jobs, business and we don’t have peace, dignity and hope. When a nation forgets its benefactors, such is the punishing fate which becomes inevitable.
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This is thought provoking for the the DUMBS. May I add something more in it?
The most important thing during MUsharraf time, the stability of the country, conistent economic policies and the vision of MUsharraf for Pakistan.
That is why, ordinary people nowadays are compelled to say Musharraf was better than these present directionless rulers amidst of so-called democracy.
Now look at the following facts and you will know why People like Musharraf and look at the last para why people don’t like politicians and SO CALLED DEMOCRACY
Written By: Afreen Baig
Foreign Reserves – a significant economic indicator and of vital importance to every expanding economy. Foreign Reserves is the first and basic economic indicator that transmits an air of confidence and trust, amongst the potential foreign & local investors and the nation. Foreign Reserves are held in abundance and accumulated - in order to sustain the confidence of a country’s capacity to carry out external trade confidently, to balance the momentum between demand & supply of foreign currencies, and also used as an intervention tool by the State Bank. Reserves also bail out the economy in times of financial crisis.
By October 2007, at the end of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s tenure, Pakistan raised back its Foreign Reserves to a handsome $16.4 billion. His exceptional policies kept our trade deficit controlled at $13 billion, exports boomed to $18 billion, revenue generation increased to become $13 billion and attracted foreign investment of $8.4 billion.
Pakistan recently has seen a drastic drop in its Reserves by 50% and its currency devalued by 40%, which has left ordinary people confused and the usual cynics have started heaping the blame onto the policies of Mr. Shaukat Aziz, without even knowing the basic macro-economic indicators nor understanding the relationship b/w Foreign reserves, Trade deficit and Currency devaluation.
The Trade deficit (Exports minus Imports) is always managed in ratio to Revenue generation, Capital inflows and Reserves. Almost all developing economies face the dread of trade deficit but their abundant foreign reserves gives them the fiscal space to overcome those grievances.
Illustrating in mathematics for ordinary readers, on October 2007, when PM Shaukat Aziz left us:
Exports - $18 billion
Imports - $30.53 billion
Trade deficit - $12.53 billion
Foreign Reserves - $16.4 billion
What is to be seen above is that, Pakistan’s Foreign Reserves $16.4 bn exceeded the trade deficit $12.53 bn by a comfortable $3.87 billion and with an additional foreign investment of $8.4 billion – Pakistan’s currency stayed stable at Rs.61 per dollar.
Currency starts to devalue ONLY when the Trade deficit surpasses the Foreign Reserves. This rare phenomenon occurred in PPP’s incompetent & dense minded government, which has led to devaluation of the currency by 40%. They failed to protect our Sovereignty - our Foreign Reserves!
In PPP’s inept government of eight months,
Trade deficit - $20.74 billion
Foreign reserves - $8 billion
Under PPP, the Reserves fell from $14 billion to $8 billion and the trade deficit increased from $12.53 billion to $20.74 billion.
The moment the foreign reserves ($8 bn) fell below the trade deficit ($20.74 bn), the currency starts to devalue. Under Mr. Shaukat Aziz, Rupee stayed stable till October 2007, because our Reserves $16.4 billion EXCEEDED our Trade deficit of $12.53 billion.
In 2007, when international oil prices reached an alarming level of $140 per barrel it hurt the Imports bill of many developing countries, by increasing the trade deficit. The experienced Mr. Shaukat Aziz gauged this situation and immediately started monitoring & controlling individual sectors that were importing. He allowed imports only in sectors that were export specific. His efforts resulted in decreasing our Import bill by 6.53% by September 2007 (one month before he left).
Rupee stayed stable throughout Mr. Musharraf’s supported governments. Trade deficit never exceeded the foreign reserves in the last eight years. The results were as follows – a stable rupee:
2001-02: Rs. 61
2002-03: Rs. 57.7
2003-04: Rs. 57.92
2004-05: Rs. 59.66
2005-06: Rs. 60.16
2006-07: Rs. 60.5
2007 (Dec): Rs. 61
What did the inefficient PPP do in these last eight months? They failed to monitor each sector of imports to control them individually. Pakistan’s economy started destabilizing because PPP could not guard our $14 billion reserves. Nor did they utilize any effort to increase the reserves from where Mr. Shaukat Aziz left it at $16.4 billion! The easier way out for them is to beg around the world barefaced or go back to IMF disgracefully.
What did the PPP further do? They increased the import bill by 55% in the months April to June 2008 and again increased it by 52.65% in the months July to September 2008 – though world oil prices fell from $140 per barrel to $70 per barrel.
Flight of capital takes place ONLY in economies where there is lack of trust and faith! Investors and endowing Public do not trust the government of PPP and are wary of PPP’s earlier corrupt reputation.
In the first four months of PPP, around $22 billion were withdrawn from the economy and KSE’s market capitalization fell by $29 billion. The State Bank was forced to place ban on transfer of dollar outside Pakistan.
Foreign reserves get hurt twice in this depletion process. First, when the investors and public pull back their money. Second, when macro-economic indicators witness imbalance and the government is forced to pay their external liabilities through these Reserves. This second stage occurs only when the government loses other means of regular income and is unable to control their imports.
Every country in the world is forced to make Imports. Imports help boost Exports. Even the world exporter China makes an import worth around $954 billion, to further promote their exports. But, Imports should be Export specific – scrutinized and restrained monthly – which was being done under the policies implemented by Mr. Shaukat Aziz.
Let’s analyze the steady India, as an example, with GDP growth of 9%.
Indian Imports - $188 billion (compared to Pakistan’s imports of $40 billion)
Indian Trade deficit - $63 billion (compared to Pakistan’s deficit of $20 billion)
The Indian currency is not devaluing because their Foreign Reserves $308 billion exceed their trade deficit of $63 billion.
Had Mr. Shaukat Aziz continued, the Trade deficit would have been kept controlled in accordance with Pakistan’s Revenue generation, Capital inflows and Foreign Reserves – which would have kept our rupee stable and economy booming at 7% GDP growth.
This latest IMF tranche of $7.6 billion, pre-arranged for a period of two years, will not help boost an economy whose foreign investment is declining, and where the trade deficit exceeds the total foreign reserves. This economic deception is yet another soothing drug given to us, by our unpopular democratic government of PPP.
If Pakistan wishes to remain free from influence of IMF, there is no better option than to assert our economic sovereignty and accumulate Foreign Reserves, from help of over-seas Pakistani. Regrettably, PPP lacks the credibility and the reliability to attract back that trust and confidence!
With thanks to Afreen Baig
Afreen Baig is an independent analyst majoring in International Relations and Economics. She can be reached at afreenbaig@gmail.com
Musharraf Era performance: Pakistan Flourishes
Mirza Rohail Baig
This is all the more amazing when one considers that just five years ago, Pakistan was on the verge of bankruptcy, with only a little more than $1 billion in foreign exchange reserves, its stock market teetering at 1,000 points (worth $5 billion only) and foreign debt servicing at 65% of GDP.
The forex reserves now stand at over $16.5 billion. The once ever-declining rupee has been stable at around 60-61 to a dollar since Musharraf took over. Of the 184 member countries of the IMF, Pakistan’s rate of economic growth (7%) has been one of the best in the world. Moreover, the Karachi stock market is now above 13,000 points and worth around $65 billion. On top of that, foreign debt servicing has now decreased to 28%.
1. The Pakistan economy is among the fastest growing economies in the world, having reached the size of $160 billion from a mere $70 billion in 1999. Furthermore, Pakistan attracted a record investment of $6 billion last year.
2. 2007: National revenues had swelled from Rs 308 billion during 1988-99 to around a trillion in 2007 and the FBR now estimates 2.8 million income tax payers.
3. Public sector development program (PSDP) has grown from Rs 80 billion in 1999 to Rs 520 billion in 2007.
4. FACT: The rate of growth in Pakistan’s Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) is at a 30-year high. Construction activity is at a 17-year high.
5. FACT: The Infrastructure Industries Index, which measures the performance of seven industries (i.e., Electricity generation, Natural gas, Crude oil, Petroleum products, Basic metal, Cement and coal) has recorded a 26.2 percent growth in the Industrial sector of Pakistan.
6. FACT: Jan 14: According to the National Education Census (NEC-2005), Pakistan now has a total of 245,682 Educational institutions in all categories, including 164,579 (i.e. 67%) in the public sector and 81,103 (i.e. 33%) in the private sector.
The census — jointly conducted by the Ministry of Education, the Academy of Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM) and the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) — reveals that the number of private-sector institutions has increased from 36,096 in 1999-2000 to 81,103 in 2005, i.e. by 100%. Educational Institutions have increased by 45,007 in the Musharraf Era.
7. FACT: According to an IMF report, Pakistan is 3rd in Banking profitability in the world. On the IMF chart, Pakistan’s banking profitability is on third position after Colombia and Venezuela. On the same IMF chart, India is on the 36th position and China is on the 40th position.
8. FACT: According to a report entitled, “Doing Business in 2006,” co-sponsored by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Pakistan globally ranks 10th among the countries most active in pursuing pro-business policies.
9. In 1999 what we earned as GDP: we used to give away 64.1% as foreign debt and liabilities. In 2006, what we earned as GDP: we gave ONLY 28.3% as foreign debt and liabilities. We are now SAVING 35% of our GDP for economic growth.
10. According to the Economic Survey 2005, poverty in Pakistan in 2001 was 34.46%. And now, after 7-8 years of Musharraf, poverty in 2005 was 23.9%. Thus, poverty DECREASED by 10.56%. Overall, 12 million people have been pushed out of Poverty in 2001 - 2005!
11. Literacy rate in Pakistan has increased from 45% (in 2002) to 53% (in 2005). Education now receives 4% of GDP and English has been introduced as a compulsory subject from grade 1.
12. 12-4-07: The IT industry, which was virtually non-existent seven years ago, has grown to be worth $2 billion of which $1 billion is export related. It registered a 50% growth. 55 foreign IT companies have already entered the market. Now the I.T. sector alone employs 90,000 professionals.
13. Nov 2006: President Musharraf said that Pakistan will set up Nine Engineering World Class Science and Technology Federal Universities by 2008 with foreign assistance. He said the institutions of higher learning would be established in collaboration with Italy, South Korea, Japan, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Austria and China. The Cost of building these Universities will be over Rs 96.5 billion.
The Vice Chancellors, Heads of department, Professors and Faculty of the planned university will be from these foreign Universities, while the examination system, the quality assurance followed, as well as the Degree awarded will also be from these foreign Universities.
14. The Government has approved to give at least 4% of GDP to Education in the 2007 budget.
15. In 1999-2000 there were 31 Public Universities. Now 2005-2006 there are 49 Public Universities.
Air University (established 2002); Institute of Space technology, ISB (established 2002); Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University, Quetta (established 2004); University of Science & Technology, Bannu (established 2005); University of Hazara (founded 2002); Malakand university, Chakdara (established 2002); Karakurum International university, Gilgit (established 2002); University of Gujrat (established 2004); Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore (established 2002); Sarhad University of IT, Peshawar (established 2001); etc.
16. 6-member delegation of Australian Department of Education, Science & Technology and AusAID, visited Pakistan on the request of PM Shaukat Aziz in order to help Pakistan in its efforts to realign its TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) according to the market needs. Chairman NAVTEC, Altaf Saleem, informed the delegation about NAVTEC plans to increase the capacity to train one million people annually by 2010 from the present annual capacity of 320,000.
17. Defense Exports of Pakistan have crossed the $200 million mark as the country’s robust Defense manufacturing industry continues to expand. This was disclosed by Major General Syed Absar Hussain, Director General, Defense Export Promotion Organization (“International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) 2006″ held at karachi.).
18. President Musharraf inaugurated an 18 Mega Watt Naltar hydro power project, of over Rs. 1.36 billion. The project was completed in four years at Naltar near Gilgit.
19. Pakistan is now in Large-scale Nuclear expansion. The reactor under construction could produce over 200kg of weapons-grade plutonium per year, assuming it operates at full power for a modest 220 days per year. At 4 to 5 kilograms of plutonium per weapon, this stock would allow the production of 40-50 Nuclear weapons a year.
20. The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) of Hong Kong will sign a concession agreement for setting up a US$1 billion Deep-water container port, the first in Pakistan. KPT will invest $450 million for infrastructure development for the project. HPH will invest $557 million. In the first phase, a 1,500m quay wall will be built with a designed dept of 18m.
21. GILGIT: President Musharraf inaugurated the dry port in the border town of Sust, 200 km north of Gilgit. The Dry port, a Pakistan-China joint venture, was built in 2004 at a cost of Rs90 million, on a height of 10,000-foot.
22. Dec 2006: President Musharraf said that many canals, including the Thal and Raini canals, were being constructed for better utilization of the available water. He said Rs66 billion was being spent on the brick-lining of 87,000 canals in the country, adding that 6,000 new canals would be brick-lined next year.
23. The Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) has approved expansion of Tarbela dam power project which would generate 960 MW costing $500 million.
24. President Musharraf recently inaugurated the Mirani Dam. Mirani Dam in Kech area of Mekran district, with a catchment area of 12,000 square kilometer, has been built in four years at a cost of Rs6 billion which includes Rs1.5 billion in compensation to the affected people. It will have a storage capacity of over 300,000 million acre feet of water.
25. Gomal Zam Dam: This project started in Aug 2002 and is expected to be completed in early 2008. It is located in the Damaan in NWFP. It is 437 feet high and will irrigate about 163,000 acres of land. The total costs amounts to Rs. 12 billion, with a gross storage of 1.14 MAF. It will produce 17.4 MW of electricity.
26. Mushrraf says the government is constructing the Katchi Canal, costing Rs40 billion, and that Punjab had been gracious to provide land for the 350 kilometer stretch which will pass through the province.
27. The Economic Coordination Committee decided to set up a $2-billion mega Oil refinery at Khalifa Point in district Hub, Balochistan. The refinery, commissioned by 2010, would have a maximum refining capacity of 13 million tons of petroleum products — higher than the country’s total existing capacity of 12.8 million tons.
28. Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSMC) during the quarter July-Sept 2007 recorded the highest ever-sales figure of Rs 9.3012 billion.
29. The Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sector of Pakistan has attracted over Rs 70 billion investments during the last five years as a result of liberal and encouraging policies of the government. Presently, some 1,765 CNG stations are operating in the country, in 85 cities and towns, and 1000 more would be set-up in the next three years. It has provided employment for 30,000 people in the country.
30. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has registered 1,135 companies during the first quarter (July-September 2007). With the new registrations the total number of registered companies with SECP as of September 30 reached 50,125.
31. Telecom sector has attracted an investment of $ 9 billion in the last three years. It alone created 80,000 jobs directly and 500,000 jobs indirectly.
32. Former corrupt and incompetent Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, made only one motorway – M2 (Lahore – Islamabad). Under Musharraf 6 motorways are either completed or under construction:
•M1 (Islamabad to Peshawar) - (Rs.13 bn) - [155 km] - (started 2003 - Completed Oct 2007)
•M3 (Pindi to Faisalabad) - (Rs.5.6 bn) – [53 km] - (started 2002 – Completed 2004)
•M8 (Gwadar to Ratodero) – [1072 km] - (started 2004 – will complete 2009)
•M9 (Karachi to Hyderabad) – (Rs.6.3 bn) – [136 km]
•M10 (Karachi Northern bypass) – (Rs 3.5 bn) – [56 km] – (completed 2007)
•M11 (Lahore to Sialkot) – (Rs.23 bn) –[101 km] – (started 2006 – under construction)
33. Under Musharraf various highways under construction throughout the country. Including N5, N-25, N-35, N-45, N-50, N-55, N-65, N-70, N-75, N-80, S-1, etc.
34. General Pervez Musharraf inaugurated the Makran Coastal Highway (N-10) project in August 2001, consisting of Karachi-Gwadar, Pasni-Gwadar, and Ormara-Liari (Balochistan) Highways. The cost of the Liari-Ormara Highway was Rs3.9 billion and that of Pasni-Gwadar Highway, Rs2.8 billion respectively. The total length of Makran Coastal Highway is 533 kilometers.
35. 2-12-07: Sialkot International Airport Limited (SIAL) completed. The 1,002-acre airport is 13 km west of Sialkot and is linked by a road to Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Gujrat, Narowal, the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) and the Sialkot Dry Port Trust.
36. Ghandara International Airport (Islamabad) the first-ever green-field airport being built at a cost of $400 million; with a renowned international consultant, Louis Berger Group of USA. President Musharraf laid the foundation stone of the project on April 7, 2007. It will be completed by Dec 2010. Its total area is 3700 acres (15 km²).
37. Major Industrial estates are being developed under Musharraf’s vision: M3 industrial, Sundar industrial estate, Chakri industrial, etc.
38. Oct 2007: In the current fiscal year the Mining and Quarrying sector has registered a growth rate of 5.6 percent. Increased growth was propelled by strong growths recorded in magnetite (30 percent), dolomite (26.1 percent), Limestone (25.2 percent) and chromites.
39. The government has already started various initiatives, to discover and develop world-class copper-gold deposits in Chagai Baluchistan by Australian Firms which would fetch $500 million to $600 million per year.
40. Major reserves of COPPER & GOLD in Baluchistan’s Rekodiq area were discovered in early 2006. It has ranked Rekodiq among the world’s top seven copper reserves. The Rekodiq mining area has proven estimated reserves of 2 billion tons of copper and 20 million ounces of gold. According to the current market price, the value of the deposits has been estimated at about $65 billion, which would generate thousands of jobs.
41. Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) recently approved 45 developmental projects in its meeting, including six revised projects, with a total cost of Rs 154.1 billion and with a foreign exchange component (FEC) of Rs 36.8 billion.
42. Rs 9.8 billion have been allocated for 91 different mega projects at Public Sector Universities across the province, said Sindh Governor Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan.
43. Oct 2007: A fully functional TMS (Tax Management System), including profiling, withholding, return/payment filing, rectification, refunds, audit, and legal tracking is scheduled to be operational by 2007 in Pakistan, to process the tax year 2007 returns, according to World Bank.
44. The government is providing Sui Gas facility to areas of South Punjab at a cost of Rs 1.311 billion. A total of 1,138 kilometre gas pipeline is being laid. The districts benefiting from these schemes mainly include Multan, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Rajanpur, DG Khan, Vehari and Muzaffargarh.
45. The Karachi city government’s rehabilitation of Industrial zones and improvement plan for all four industrial zones of the city needs to be completed in 7-8 months. The projects are worth Rs 2.5 billion whereas the ‘beautification’ project worth Rs 4.5 billion.
46. 27-11-07: Pakistan Navy Ship Zarrar, the first of Multi-Role Tactical Platform (MRTP-33), was commissioned into Pakistan Navy at a ceremony at PN Dockyard.
47. 29-12-07: City Nazim Mustafa Kamal said the construction work of a 47-storey IT Tower in the vicinity of Civic Centre at a cost of $200m would start soon. Around 40,000 youth would get employment in the IT Tower. It will have 10,000 call centres, out of which 6,000 have already been booked so far.
48. The President approved the project of laying of 940-kilometre-long “standard gauge” Railway track between Gwadar and Quetta, with a cost of Rs 75 billion. A German firm won the contract.
49. To increase the income of farmers, the Government is investing Rs7.80 billion, under which a “Food Security Program” will be launched. Initially, it will be launched in 1,000 villages. The President said that Rs 3.60 billion would be invested in live-stocks and dairy sectors. About 1,200 model dairy farms and 2,950 cattle breeding farms will be established under this investment project.
50. Pakistan will launch a Self-controlled Remote Sensing Satellite System (RSSS), at a cost of Rs19.3 billion, to ensure strategic and unconditional supply of satellite remote sensing data for any part of the globe over the year. SUPARCO will implement it over a period of six years. President Musharraf has approved the project in principle.
51. The Governor of Sindh, Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan, inaugurated the DUHS Medical Research City with Dow Diagnostic Reference and Research Laboratories and Jinnah Genome Centre as its important components. He also laid the foundation stone for a library and sports complex which houses different constituent institutions of the university.
52. President Musharraf inaugurated a 50-bed state-of-the-art Workers Welfare Fund Kidney Centre. The first-ever kidney centre in Baluchistan, constructed on 7.5 acres, at a cost of Rs385 million, and having the diagnostic, dialysis, surgical and lab facilities, will help the people of this area.
53. Karachi: The building of the 50-bed Kidney Centre in Landhi has been completed. Minister Muhammad Adil Siddiqui said that the building of this centre had been built at a cost of Rs70 million.
54. CM Pervaiz Elahi inaugurated Pakistan’s first Software technology park (STP) on Ferozpur Road, to be implemented by Punjab IT Board (PITB). The Rs 1.5 billion project is set over an area of 32 kanals; will be completed in 12 months and is expected to directly create 10,000 jobs and generate economic activity of Rs 9 billion per year.
55. In what is considered a major leap for Pakistan, a Polytechnic Institute is being established to produce skilled workforce that will rescue the manufacturing industry from the clutches of foreign dependence. Being built in Korangi at a cost of Rs450 million, this government-funded institute will start operating in January 2007 and prepare 500 workers by the end of the first year, besides producing 22 different types of dies and moulds for aviation, telecom, pharmaceutical and other industries. Experts from Germany, Japan and Thailand assisted in developing its curriculum.
56. Police Act 1861 replaced by Police Order 2002 after 141 years. Police force divided into three separate wings: Watch and ward, Investigation and Prosecution.
57. Federal Minister for Commerce, in order to modernize tobacco farming in the country, is setting up a state-of-the-art Tobacco Research Centre in Bunner. Annually 8 million kilograms of Virginia tobacco (fine quality), worth Rs 9.2 billion is cultivated in Bunner. Under construction.
Post-Musharraf scenario please … By Murad Ansari.
And Pakistan would revert back to being the 2nd most corrupt country in the world (declared by Transparency International in 1995 during BB rule) from 42nd in 2007 according to TI (FYI India is ranked 36th on the same list).
GDP growth rate, which has been over 7% for the last 5 years, would drop down to 2 to 3 percent like in the 90s.
Exports which grew from $9 billion in 1999 to $18 billion in 2007 and are poised to cross $25 billion in next couple of years would go back to $ 9 billion or less like in the 90s.
FDI, which is over $6 billion in 2006-2007 would go down to the level of 1999 i.e. $350 million.
All industrial sectors, which have been showing double digit growth rate, would turn into sick units like in the 90’s.
Pakistan would fall back into the trap of IMF and our leaders would be going around in the world with a begging bowl asking for loans just to pay off the interest.
Tax revenues, which grew from Rs 200 billion-Rs 300 billion to over a trillion rupees in 2007, would be used to buy more palaces in the U.K.
Poverty, which declined from 35% in 1999 to around 23% in 2007 according to ADB, CIA World Factbook, World Bank etc. would this time rise to God knows how many percent.
Missile monuments would be erected on every major intersection of Islamabad (like Nawaz Shareef did) to tell the people how hard we are working to solve their problems.
Hollow slogans like “Qarz Utaro Mulk Sanwaro” (rough trans: “remove the debt; improve the country”) would come back into fashion.
Can anyone(a rationale) can deny the above mentioned facts deny
an eye opener for those who wanted Musharraf out!
we have created economic crises for ourselves and if the world economics was the way it is and with Musharraf still around, we would have benefited three folds in a short period of time.
dollar was at 60 and would have gone down further given the height of economic crises in US…things would have become more cheaper and investment would have started coming in.
pound sterling which is currently at 117 would have been around 100 or even less.
oil would have been cheaper and thus overall costs would have gone down resulting in lowering of inflation rate!
“A slap on the faces of Musharraf bashers and an eye opener for the Pakistani nation.”
Govt must endorse past economic policies to get $7.5bn IMF loan
Thursday, November 06, 2008
By Khalid Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: The government in order to qualify for the IMF loan of $7.5 billion under the newly created Short-Term Liquidity Facility (SLF) is left with no option but to endorse the economic policies of the last decade, a senior official told The News.
The SLF is available to emerging economies with a track record of implementing strong macroeconomic policies, but caught up in the global financial crisis, the IMF website says.
“If Pakistan is to formally move IMF for this loan, it would have to show that country has good track record of implementing good economic policies” the official said.
“If new economic mangers say that country did not perform well in the past, it will not be eligible to qualify for IMF’s Short-Term Liquidity Facility,” he said.
The purpose of this Facility is to provide large, upfront, quick disbursing, short-term financing to help countries with good track record to address temporary liquidity problems in capital markets. The IMF Executive Board approved the SLF on October 29.
Pakistan is to get 500 percent of its quota, which stands at $1.5 billion that amounts to $7.5 billion for two years.
“If the current government moves the IMF for the newly created SLF it would mean that Musharraf regime’s economic policies were in right direction that lifted Pakistan from low to medium income country,” the official said.
In the last Friends of Pakistan meeting held in New York the economic managers of the present government acknowledged that Musharraf regime’s economic policies were in right direction owing to which the macro economic indicators improved. President Asif Ali Zardari was also present in the meeting.
During that meeting it was acknowledged that the size of the economy swelled to $170 billion from $60 billion during the Musharraf regime and the per capita income also increased to over 1000 dollars from 500 dollars. The GDP growth increased to over seven percent for most of the period and foreign exchange reserves scaled to unprecedented height of $16.5 billion in October 2007.
The Zardari regime’s economic managers marketed the performance of the Musharraf regime in the Friends of Pakistan meeting in USA and also in Dubai talks with IMF to qualify the help of friend countries and IMF loan to bail out itself from the economic morass.
“This shows that Zardari regime has dual faces as it acknowledges before the world that Pak economy performed well in the last decade, but on domestic front it says that economic polices of Musharraf have ruined the economy.”
The economic wizards to qualify for their help the and IMF loan want the Friends of Pakistan to believe that the country performed well in last decade and its balance of payment situation has worsened due to global financial crisis and massive hike in oil and food prices.
The official said that Pakistan has now decided to place formal request to IMF after the meeting of Friends of Pakistan that is to be held in Dubai on November 17, as Pakistan wants to exhaust this opportunity first.
However, Friends of Pakistan and international financial institutions (IFIs) want to take IMF on board so that the Fund could monitor the economic policies of Pakistan and to ensure their financial help is being used properly.
DAILY NEWS INTERNATIONAL
I caught a piece of a discussion on Pakistan on CSPAN last night, and one quote stood out in particular.
It went roughly along these lines:
We must stop thinking of Pakistan in terms of its strategic value, and rather as a nation.
This was a call to the west to reframe its dealings with Pakistan, and indeed the region as a whole.
Personally, I think the United States administration must evaluate whether it considers Pakistan an equal & if so, revisit its policies (such as incursions into the territory), and if it does not, there is a serious paradigm shift that must occur.
Kevin wrote “Personally, I think the United States administration must evaluate whether it considers Pakistan an equal & if so, revisit its policies (such as incursions into the territory), and if it does not, there is a serious paradigm shift that must occur.”
This reminds of Hussain Haqqani’s interview where he mentioned those who want Pakistan to look into US eyes and talk like equals. He said something which is still fresh in my mind “Ankhon main Ankhain daal kay baat karnay kay leay Qad ka barabar hona zaroree hota hai” meaning first let’s put our internal house in order by becoming either economic or a military power before we demand others to treat as equals.
@ Gul Riaz
Once the devil came to a man asked the man to do his bidding , in return the man can have all the pleasures of life like good food, women, wine, gold etc. . The man had what he wanted but he had to act like a puppet and lead an immoral life
Musharraf was paid for following US orders, in return pakistan had to do anything they were told.
If Musharraf was honest why was he afraid of the CJP Iftikhar Ch?
@ Ashiq oF Musharraf
please put links to the web sites dont copy past such long statistics,
furthermore the so called developemnt was only a bubble which burst as soon as musharraf went, if the development was real if would have sustained the economic crises but it did not which shows it was just a rosy picture, because like the rule of losing weight if you lose 10 lbs in one week you will gain 10lbs in one week, if u lose 4lbs in 2 weeks you will gain as much weight in as much time,
there was no sudden collaspe , just the truth came out.
last not least if there was so much prosperity why was mush and his Q league kicked out from power in elections?
and shaukat aziz ! such an insane person selling Pakistan Steel mills for peanuts ! how do you explain that?
even a lay man can figure out that !
P.S @ ashik of Musharraf
if shaukat aziz was such a bright and economic wizard why was he not given a ticket by the Q league for the feb 08 elections? i may not see the mr aziz/s miricles but his own party could have seen that ,!
the reason is Q league knew that the economic bubble is not due to his(aziz) policys but due to the dollars flowing in in form of aids and grants from US and to maintain that bubble dollars were needed so the Q league can do away with aziz
hence aziz was disposed off like a worn out tool, now please dont blame the disposal of aziz on someone else as this decisio was taken by q league which had its every move approved by musharraf
Mr. Sajjad,
Have you ever heard an urdu proverb, “BANANEY MEIN BARSON LAGTEY HEIN AUR MITANEY MEIN LAMHEY”
Jab bander key hath narial aata hey tau aisey hee hota hey jo Pakistan economy key sath hua ISS govt. key hathoon
After the departure of Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan is again in search of its Messiah which may bring life in our forsaken society. Under the circumstances and given the post 9/11 scenario the out gone Musharraf was; it can be said that he gave his best for this country. Especially in Al Qaeda debacle that Pakistan was directly implicated in the attack on US soil but the man showed his real zeal and maturity and kept on roving the country boat very successfully… till last.
Presently Pakistan is pushed in the darkness of the long shadows of the imposed feudalistic democracy which has brought utter havoc and misery in the lives of common people. Remembering the old days Habib Jalib says; Go keh apnee zeest ba piyda thee—-Maggar dhoob say chaoun. tou ziada thee
I think the only draw back with man was that owing to his entry factor that he came on the top through a military coup; his conscious did not allow himself to excel in a more majestic way. It can be said that he was; A Man who failed to declare himself a Hero (Link).
Against all the odds the man did deliver his best but there was always a fear that soon we will loose him. In the absence of true feed back that he envisaged from the elites and media in respect of his enlightenment plans in the society; he was utterly disappointed. His fears were high lighted here on TPS in an article;(Link) No body runs for ever published on 17 August.
In the global war on terror declared by U.S. Pakistan under his rule worked as US pawn. As a proxy of U.S. it was very much predicted that he will ultimately be defunct and silenced. U.S. games are well known and it was evident that Musharraf was to meet the same fate as all other proxies had gone through. (Please Link) Musharraf you may not be the Exception.
Musharraf has already escaped, brothers with his ugly wife with 9 suit cases.
Sajjad Sahab and other well wishers of world renowned Mr. 10% and Mr. Sharif Brothers,
Please open your eyes and mind and be neutral before blaming on an Honest man who put his life on the line (several times) for the development of this great country. So you don’t know the fact that Pakistan was almost bankrupt before he took over Pakistan from Sharif Brothers (who used to melt Railway carts delivering steel to their factories in Punjab……..I guess it’s news to you, where were you those days) to the level where they built positve Foreign reserves and stabilize my great country.
Best thing is to use your education to research facts from “Open World Sources” rather than believing in your favourite “Crook” politicians…..I hope I’m not offending their beloveds here. Surprisingly, whole world knows about their “Corruption and stealing money from Pakistan” to their private account in Swiss and Spanish banks and we “Parhay lekhay Jaheel” still brags about them. You shouldn’t be afraid of Musharaf, he isn’t in power anymore, do you know any one who could prove Musharaf illegally transfered funds out of country for him/his family???? Don’t take me wrong here…..democracy is good but for the people who understands it’s functionality and plays by the rule. It’s good for educated society but couldn’t function under “Vadera Shahi or Chaudhry Giri”.
Let’s educate our society and equip our citizens with good decision making power before trusting “Proven Crooks”.
Besides, please share with me, who liberated “Press”? Your Mr. 10% or BB or Sharif Brothers??? Have you traveled outside of your Pind to see how world has developed and working towards prosperity of their citizens? Even communist China is moving towards “Privatization” and encouraging Foreign and Private investment……..please don’t argue on that too, just read right sites and spend sometime on research. Whole developing world is after foreign investment (even big India next door and China), what’s wrong with Aziz’s decision to sell of Pak Steel which killed our “Privately held Ship Wreckage Industry of 1980’s) which was second in the world. You know who benefited with our “Failing of Ship Wreckage Industry”……Taiwan, tell me that’s a lie too. If Pak Steel is sold to private investors, it will try to compete fairly in world market and Pak Govt will not have to pour money to keep it in business and keep sacrificing private businesses.
Please learn from Privatization of banks in Pakistan……..people like you protested and raised a hell for that too……..and see the results after a few years. They are doing just good and playing major role in trade and commerce. No developed country is involved in running day to day activities of any business. They only involve in creating Infrastructure for private businesses to flourish and grow and let private business creat jobs. As they learned it hard way years ago……….no govt can run business efficiently and successfully/profitable without sacrificing and hurting private businesses.