As part of the larger Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to help neutralise the economic hardships brought upon by the pandemic, another installment of $526 million was rescheduled for Pakistan by the G-20 club. This has resulted in an overall debt relief worth $1.7 billion for the country. It is imperative that we take this opportunity and make the most of it by focusing our efforts on revitalising the economy. The debt rescheduling agreements were…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
The government is right that the $1.7 billion secured in debt relief has come at just the right time and it will go a long way in saving the “lives and livelihoods of millions.” The second wave of the coronavirus is already taking a very heavy toll and it’s only a matter of time before the economy goes into deep shock. The government has tried to provide relief to selected industries to stimulate production and…
After applying for the G-20 debt relief initiative, available to 76 of the poorest nations in the world, Pakistan has secured rescheduling agreements worth $526 million, $347 million of which comes from China, the country’s largest bilateral creditor. Covid-19 has not spared even the most stable and growing economies of the world, which makes the debt relief facility for fledgling economies a fair and justified move. In total the PTI government has now secured close…
So in a few weeks, a few months, we seem to have moved back centuries. In households across the country people are forced to cook what food they can on wood – acquiring pieces of timber from any source they can find. For poor people who receive high bills for gas, but not the commodity itself, life has become almost impossible. Tearful mothers speak of hungry kids seeking breakfast that is not available, because there…
Around 1.5 million Pakistanis who live and work in the UAE could be badly affected by the refusal by the UAE to extend visas to Pakistanis, at least for a temporary period. The list of countries which will not be granted visas also include nations such as Iran and Turkey, amongst others. As should happen, Pakistan has taken up the issue at the diplomatic level, given that ties between Islamabad and the UAE have traditionally…
THE relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is indeed a strong one that goes back decades. While Pakistanis have a special regard for the kingdom due to its position as the custodian of Islam’s holiest cities, political, economic and military ties are also robust. However, the relationship has experienced turbulence over the past few years, mainly because of changing geopolitical realities in the region, and the varying responses Islamabad and Riyadh have given to meeting…
Report in Dawn, December 23rd, 2020ISLAMABAD: While giving his assessment of government performance, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said never should a new government come to power without homework and without getting briefings. “When I review my performance, we took three months only to understand [issues as] everything that we had been looking at from outside was altogether different after we came to power. “And then, I must also share, for one and a…
by M Ziauddin in Express Tribune, Dec 19, 2020The writer served as executive editor of The Express Tribune from 2009 to 2014Pakistan is fast approaching a serious political logjam which, if not resolved immediately, could lead to a constitutional deadlock. The 11-party opposition conglomerate, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), after having completed its three-month long, six-city public protest tour has announced its intentions to march on Islamabad in February, seeking PM Imran Khan’s resignation failing…
Some unpleasant truths but food for thought. First of all, the way all politicians consort to lying, distortion of truth, abusing others and bragging about their own so-called achievements. Can we not be in the least bit civilized? Tell a lie often enough and in the end the people will accept it as a truth. The only problem is: who is telling the truth? No one! A very unpleasant truth is our education system. There…
………….The entire state apparatus is no build on ‘Inhumane Practices’, where the common man does not count. Just one trip to any police station can reveal the facts. ‘No money, no service’ is the operating principle, no wonder whosoever calls, including the Inspector General (IG) everyone operates independently and has a financial target to meet. Almost the entire staff complains of lack of funds to operate so they are required to fetch for themselves. The…
Pakistan and the Afghan peace process: by Mehreen Naushad in The News, dec 23, 2020
The writer is a freelance contributor, and holds an LLM degree.On December 2, the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban announced that they had made a breakthrough in the Intra-Afghan Dialogue. The two parties have concluded a written agreement that lays down how the procedure moves for future discussions in the peace process on substantive issues such as a ceasefire. With the peace process nearing its conclusion, the leading question that comes to mind with…