IMF is not the enemy: caretaker PM Kakar

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Saturday said that Pakistan needs to alter its expenditure and revenue generation in order to ensure survival.

“In short, I wonder why the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is being treated as a foe. It is not a foe neither is it a friend,” said Kakar during an interactive session with a delegation of students from Harvard University, who are in Pakistan on a visit.

A number of topics came under discussion during the meeting on Saturday including the state of democracy, the economy, brain drain and the challenges being faced by Pakistan.

“The real foe is our expenditure habit and the way we generate revenue,” he said.

He said that Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio is too low at around 9%.

The caretaker prime minister shared that his government intends to enhance its tax net.

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“How to bring in non-documented economy and enhanced the tax network. How do we invest in our human resources, do we manufacture goods or develop our individuals and sell services.

“So these are the two areas on which broadly we will focus,” he said.

The caretaker PM said that the country is gifted with talent and, “we need to put more into our human resource.”

On relationship with the US, the caretaker PM said that Pakistan seeks long term partnership with the US.

The prime minister said that Pakistan has positive and constructive relations with the US.

“It isn’t possible for any country to isolate itself from America if it wants to remain connected with research, development and technology globally,” the PM said, during his interaction with the students.

He was of the view that Pakistan remained an old ally of America in fighting the war on terror and we played an important role in the world peace.

Speaking to the students, the caretaker prime minister said that the democratic process is going on in Pakistan without any interval during last 15 years. “All three previous assemblies completed their tenure successfully,” Kakar said.

He added that democracy is the main guarantor of a strengthened parliament. According to the prime minister, the people of Pakistan have all the abilities to come out of the crises.

The students had also interacted with Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir yesterday at GHQ. The delegation included 38 students hailing from nine countries.