Miftah the lesser you talk the better it will be for you and the incumbent government

The consensus is growing among the analysts that Miftah Ismail, Finance Minister of Pakistan talks a lot and often inconsistent and incoherent, which could make his life miserable with the passage of time. 

The other suggestion is that he should bid farewell to Imran Khan animosity and focus on putting the economy of the country back on track.

Allow me to refer to his statement regarding Dr. Reza Baqir, the outgoing Governor of State Bank of Pakistan. Ismail had indicated in a tweet that the government would not be providing an extension to Dr. Baqir. It may be called that he was often termed an appointee of the International Monetary Fund and follower of the IMF dictate.

However, on his departure he admitted, "I want to thank Reza for his service to Pakistan. He is an exceptionally qualified man and we worked well during our brief time together. I wish him the very best."

He misses no chance of maligning Imran Khan for agreeing with the IMF on conditions which had opened floodgate of inflation in Pakistan, the most notorious being the hike in the tariffs of electricity and gas and withdrawal of different types of subsidies.

It is a welcome sign that the IMF has extended the timeline of the current program and also promised to increase the amount by US$2 billion. However, the honourable minister hasn’t disclosed the conditions attached to this ‘favour’. The cat will soon come out of the bag when the IMF starts its review soon after Eid Holidays.

Even a person of ordinary wit knows very well that IMF bailout package will be attached with: hike in revenue, hike in electricity and gas tariffs and withdrawal of subsidies. It is also no wonder that Miftah hasn’t developed ‘homegrown’ plan and would be obliged to follow the IMF recipe.

I am not sure if the Minister is fully aware of massive smuggling of food items to the three neighboring countries, enjoying long and most porous borders with Pakistan. Food items are being fled to Afghanistan, Iran and India only because of the faulty Trade Policy being followed by Pakistan.

Ismail faces a daunting challenge of controlling mounting ‘circular debt’, which is nothing but rampant pilferage going on with the connivance of employees of the utility companies. Analysts say, with every hike in tariffs the incentive grows for pilfering electrify and gas.

Minister has to convince IMF that Pakistan suffers from cost pushed inflation and the hike in interest rate renders the exporters uncompetitive in the global markets. Exports just can’t be increased without exploiting Pakistan’s comparative advantage and making exports competitive in the global markets.

Last but not the least, Pakistan has to contain import of luxury and/or unnecessary goods to contain trade deficit. WTO Article 6 provides an option to Pakistan to impose quantitative restrictions on imports; the option must be exercised without further waste of time.