By Rafiq Mangat in The News, December 28, 2023
ISLAMABAD: An election will be held in early 2024, at which the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) expects a victory for the coalition, led by the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN), under former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, “with help from the military, despite widespread discontent with the government’s austerity measures”.
The EIU says in its assessment the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will lose. “Domestic protests will intensify, but will be curbed swiftly by the military,” added the report.
Political stability and security are tenuous in Pakistan, and real GDP will contract mildly in fiscal year 2023/24 (July-June), according to the report. Pakistan secured a nine-month loan package from the IMF in June 2023, which will help the country to stave off a default on sovereign debt obligations over 2023-24, amid persistent balance-of-payment and fiscal strains. “China will remain a major strategic and financial ally of Pakistan, while relations with India will continue to be strained.”
Another report, presented by Ipsos’ Consumer Confidence Survey, conducted in early 2023, said Pakistan would enter the new year with growing confidence despite a disruptive start to the year. The country grappled with severe flooding, soaring inflation, political instability, and a delay in the IMF’s standby agreement.
The survey findings revealed a staggering 94 per cent of respondents believed the country was heading in the wrong direction. This marked the highest level of negative sentiment since Ipsos began surveying consumer confidence in Pakistan in 2019, underscoring the gravity of the situation…..
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1142471-pmln-led-allies-expected-to-win-pti-may-lose-polls-eiu
