Post Reply 
 
Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
‘Pakistan needs economic assistance urgently’ * Six months may be too late
09-08-2008, 02:27 PM
Post: #1
‘Pakistan needs economic assistance urgently’ * Six months may be too late
‘Pakistan needs economic assistance urgently’

* Six months may be too late as Zardari’s popularity falls: Lieven

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: Senator Joe Biden’s long-term plan for the United States to help Pakistan economically is a vital American interest, not just because of the role of Pakistani Pashtuns in supporting the Taliban’s campaign in Afghanistan, but because Pakistan itself risks becoming a source of threats to the West that will vastly outweigh those from Afghanistan.

According to Anatol Lieven, writing in the International Herald Tribune, the fear is that by the time a new US administration has begun to work out its plans, it will be next spring, which may be too late, some Pakistanis feel. “If the government here cannot do something serious to help the population economically within six months, it will be finished,” a newspaper editor told Lieven. The new president Asif Ali Zardari is seen as too pro-American. His government’s prestige is being damaged still further by intensifying American raids into the Tribal Areas.

The main opposition party will try to exploit all this as much as it possibly can. Nawaz Sharif’s popularity has soared in recent months, partly due to his opposition to Pakistani help to the Americans in Afghanistan and criticism of the Pakistan Army’s campaign against the insurgents.

This does not mean that the United States should treat Nawaz as an enemy. If he comes to power, he will probably follow a course of pragmatic co-operation with Washington. Nonetheless, initially at least, his return to power would be a blow to US-Pakistani co-operation.

Lieven, who is currently in Pakistan to research a book, points out that the people of Pakistan are suffering from the twin effects of the surge in the international price of oil and the surge in international food prices. Electricity cuts, meanwhile, have reached 16 hours a day in some areas. The most immediate problem, he said however, is that the state cannot pay some $1.4 billion in debts to the power companies, which in turn do not have the money to import necessary fuel. He suggests that the US should make these funds available to Pakistan immediately for this specific purpose. It should also give emergency aid to those displaced by the military offensives in Bajaur. America should also use its influence with the IMF to procure its assistance to Pakistan, but it should not be made conditional on cuts in subsidies and social programmes that will further hurt the poor. Lieven said Limited American financial help can tide Pakistan over its immediate crisis. At the same time, the US should craft longer-term aid programmes to strengthen resistance to the spread of insurgency in the NWFP. The sums involved are miniscule compared to those spent by Washington on the war in Afghanistan. Reliance on purely military means will be the surest way for America to lose it.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2008_pg7_4
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  FBR Drafts Tax Laws to End Concept of Late Filers and Non-Filers LRE-Azan 0 73 10-21-2024 02:20 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Achieves Milestones: 36 Projects Worth US LRE-Azan 0 639 01-06-2024 05:23 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Chief Secretary Orders Swift Digitization of LDA Records within Two Months LRE-Azan 0 534 10-27-2023 01:55 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  CDA Launches Overseas Pakistanis Support Desks for Enhanced Assistance LRE-Azan 0 573 10-02-2023 03:31 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Pakistan Raised their Economic Development Ahsan Iqbal LRE-Azan 0 4,950 11-06-2017 01:43 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Modern burn centre to be functional in 2 months Salman 0 6,532 10-28-2013 03:22 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Pakistan plan to establish Gawadar Special Economic Zone Salman 0 5,849 06-18-2013 12:18 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Bidding of plots good for economic development: CDA Salman 0 3,931 03-27-2013 02:15 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Late payments delay project Salman 0 4,011 02-18-2013 06:54 PM
Last Post: Salman
  ‘Livestock sector Punjab’s economic backbone’ Salman 0 3,549 08-02-2012 03:12 PM
Last Post: Salman
  ‘NHA playing key role in socio-economic uplift’ Salman 0 4,140 07-13-2012 01:40 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Park Enclave: First progress made after 10 months Salman 0 5,367 05-22-2012 11:38 AM
Last Post: Salman
  CDA realised too late National park land under dispute Salman 0 3,818 04-13-2012 12:26 PM
Last Post: Salman
  ‘Pakistan, Britain need to develop better economic, social ties’ Salman 0 4,124 04-07-2012 12:30 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Pak-Turk ties guarantee economic uplift: CM Salman 0 4,064 03-14-2012 12:25 PM
Last Post: Salman
  ‘Development of stalled sectors to start in three months’ Lahore_Real_Estate 0 4,115 03-01-2012 01:10 PM
Last Post: Lahore_Real_Estate
  Park Enclave dev work to be completed within 18 months Lahore_Real_Estate 0 4,249 02-21-2012 11:59 AM
Last Post: Lahore_Real_Estate
  Pak-Iran economic relations Salman 0 4,524 02-18-2012 07:00 PM
Last Post: Salman
  CDA to boost economic activities in capital Salman 0 4,651 02-07-2012 12:58 PM
Last Post: Salman
  17% tax revenue increase achieved in last six months Salman 0 4,338 01-14-2012 02:52 PM
Last Post: Salman

Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 2 Guest(s)