Pakistan's repeated return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reflects far deeper structural problems than budget deficits or external debt alone, according to veteran economic journalist Khurram Husain. Speaking in a podcast interview, Husain argued that the country's economic trajectory has been shaped by decades of policy choices that prioritised national security over long-term economic development, creating a cycle of instability from which Pakistan has yet to escape.

Asked why Pakistan has entered more than two dozen IMF programmes without resolving its underlying economic weaknesses, Husain rejected the idea of a single cause but identified the state's historic strategic priorities as a defining factor. He argued that successive governments placed economic competitiveness, education, healthcare and industrial productivity behind security concerns, leaving Pakistan without a sustainable development model.

Turning to the Musharraf era, Husain........

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