The nation is stuck in the dilemma of a perpetual struggle to borrow money to sustain the fragile fiscal structure of the country and attempt to roll out meaningful structural reforms. The addiction to borrowing money far exceeds the determination to reform.

This makes the job of the Finance Minister of Pakistan the most difficult task in the country - who has to make money coming in from the lenders with no end in sight as to how to put a stop to it.

“We have lost our credibility as a country,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb stated, warning that urgent economic reforms are necessary to restore trust.

The statement of the minister will have consequences and a reflection of a grim reality that the job of implementation of reforms lacks sincerity. The recent visit by an IMF team examining the country’s governance structure, processes and systems demonstrates a credibility gap.

Speaking at a Senate climate change committee meeting, the finance minister briefed lawmakers on the country’s climate financing challenges and its negotiations with international lenders.

He underlined that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had committed US$500 million, while Pakistan expects to secure $1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week and that the government is also working on issuing Green Panda Bond........

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