The gap

This refers to the news report ‘Pakistan’s external account gap to reach $ 11.5bln in three years’ (Apr 26). The report is a charge sheet against the incoherent and disoriented economic policies of the government. According to the report, the external account is expected to reach an unsustainable level during the next three years which will deplete the reserves and force the government to return to IMF for another financial bailout in 2018-19. This is because of increasing trade imbalance and rising debt burden,

It laments that the tax net has not been broadened despite promises and only a small number of people file tax returns. The bottom line is that the country is shaping up for a serious catastrophe with a looming debt trap underpinned by an unmanageable fiscal, energy, external trade, external account and overvalued rupee challenges. The government seems to have no solution for the brewing crisis.

Arif Majeed

Karachi