Pakistan has defaulted, says minister

SIALKOT: As Pakistan grapples with the economic crisis, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Saturday that the cash-strapped nation had “already defaulted” and everyone, including the establishment, bureaucracy and politicians, was responsible for it.

The senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader, while addressing a convention at a private college in Sialkot, stressed: “The country has defaulted. We live in a state that has defaulted.”

The defence minister said all the solutions to the nation’s problems lie within the country and not the IMF — whose crucial $1.1 billion loan Pakistan is desperately trying to secure. He said that everyone, including the establishment, bureaucracy and politicians, are to blame for the current economic mess as the law and Constitution are not followed in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s economy is in dire straits, stricken by a balance-of-payments crisis as it attempts to service high levels of external debt amid political chaos and deteriorating security. Inflation has rocketed, the rupee has plummeted and the country can no longer afford imports, causing a severe decline in the industry.

The critical position of foreign exchange reserves — which stand at around $3.19 billion as of February 10 — reflects the miseries of $350 billion economy struggling to fund imports as thousands of containers of supplies were stranded at its ports, stalling production and putting jobs of millions of people at risk.

Daily life for the masses, which was already tough given the current state of the economy, got even harder after the petrol price surged to a historic high of Rs272 per litre — in line with the IMF’s demands. “For the last 32 years, I have seen politics getting disgraced in Pakistan,” the defence minister said.

Without naming the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Asif said that the security people were fighting against the terrorists last night as militants were brought back and rehabilitated nearly two years ago. “Whatever is being said on television has nothing to do with reality,” the defence minister said. While presenting a solution to address the economic woes, Asif further said that golf clubs were built on 1,500 acres of government land and Pakistan can pay off a quarter of its debt by selling two of its golf clubs.

APP adds from Islamabad: Talking to a private media channel, the minister, meanwhile, said national harmony was needed to uproot the monster of terrorism but Imran Khan’s lust for power was creating hurdles in achieving that.

He said the PTI avoided building a national consensus against terrorism by refusing to participate in the All Parties Conference (APC) called in the wake of Police Lines Peshawar tragedy. While condemning the Karachi terror attack, the minister said the time has come to move beyond condemnation against terrorism.

The government’s top priority was to control terrorism and deal with the economic crisis and it had kept all political differences and instability aside to achieve those endeavours. Answering a query, the minister said the Jail Bharo Tehreek should not be for workers only.

Imran advised all party workers to surrender themselves for the Jail Bharo Tehreek, but he himself was hiding in his home and calling his workers to reach Zaman Park and save him (from arrest), Asif added. Asif said, “Instead of getting pre-arrest bail and whining to the media, Imran should put his words into practice for the honor of politics.”