Kolkata: After a social media post purportedly written by Pakistan’s ministry of economic affairs appealing for funds, the Islamabad government said that their X account was hacked and they did not shoot off the SoS for funds. “We are working to have the Twitter (X) switched off,” the ministry told Teuters and cliamed that they did not tweet it, according to reports.
On Friday morning the post went viral. Less than 24 hours after full-scale conflict threatened to break out with India, the government of Pakistan was feeling the heat of its crumbling economy and apparently issued an SoS to its international partners appealing for fresh loans. In a social media post, the economic affairs division of the government of Pakistan has issued an appeal that makes it clear that Pakistan is just not in a position to afford a military conflict with India, despite having provoked its eastern neighbour into an escalating conflict following a terror strike by Pakistan-backed elements in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22 killing 25 incocent tourists and a local resident.
“Govt of Pakistan appeals to International Partners for more loans after heavy losses inflected by enemy. Amid escalating war and stocks crash, we urge international partners to help de-escalate. Nation urged to remain steadfast,” the economic affairs division wrote on X and tagged the World Bank.
IMF set to meet today
Significantly, the Pakistan appeal rang out loud on a day when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is supposed to meet to deliberate on whether it will give green light to a fresh $1.3 billion bailout package for Pakistan. It is supposed to be the climate resilience loan programme for Pakistan. Ominously for Pakistan, India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri has said that India’s executive director at the IMF could communicate its view to the multilateral agency on the bailout package.
“I’m sure that our executive director will put forward India’s position,” Misri said at a media briefing, adding, “The decisions of the board are a different matter…But I think the case with regard to Pakistan should be self-evident to those people who generously open their pockets to bail out this country.”
“Pakistan’s economy will be finished”
When the conflict was set to escalate between the two countries, economists had warned that any war will ruin Pakistan. “If the matter ends here, overall the economy will not be impacted. In fact, the Indian economy will be a gainer. There is no point is talking about the economy of Pakistan. Its economy is hardly of that of Uttar Pradesh, as far as GDP is concerned. But if the matter escalates, if Pakistan does the mistake of retaliating to this operation and doing anything that is uncalled for, I think this can escalate into a full-fledged war,” economist Sharad Kohli had said. he had also said that such a war will have limited impacts on the Indian economy as well. But everything depends on the degree of the conflict and how long it lasts.
Critical dependence of Islamabad on external funding
What is of significance is that Pakistan’s economy is on the verge of turning into an aid economy. The country is dependent on external support and is currently the fifth-largest borrower from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that has given it a $7 billion loan recently. The World Bank too keeps up another line of debt and recently sanctioned $108 million for schemes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan’s trusted ally China is also reportedly getting uncomfortable with its exposure to Pakistan which stands at around $29 billion.
Tumbling from one economic crisis to another, Pakistan is not in a position to afford a war, say economists. The social media post by the economic affairs division of the government of Pakistan corroborates that prognosis.. However, Pakistan has said that the post was not made by them. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
