The OAP

Tabitha Richardson, an 83-year-old Old Age Pensioner (OAP) residing in Wales, UK, at first glance is your typical unassuming elderly lady, balancing health issues of someone her age whilst trying to maintain a decent quality of life. But there is one difference – she is a ruthless loan shark, preying on desperate people struggling amidst the UK’s cost of living crisis. Through connections with local gangsters, Tabitha enforces debt collection of loans leaving families destitute. One family, for instance, was left desperate with only £100 per month to live on after handing over much of their income to her.

The plight of the Pakistani people mirrors this grim scenario but on a national scale. For Pakistan, a country with vast resources, also stands ensnared by ruthless loan sharks that on the surface may look innocent, but this composition of international financial institutions and national civil and establishment leaders come together to perpetually indebt the country, enslaving its people.

The Scale of the Debt

Pakistan has amassed around $250 billion in debt from institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. Despite constant repayments, the amount due remains daunting due to compound interest. Each year, Pakistan borrows more, not for development, but to service existing loans. Currently, the country allocates a staggering 52% of its annual budget, or $35bn, for interest payments alone on debt servicing.

The IMF’s Grip

The IMF’s stringent conditions have entrenched its control over Pakistan’s economy. It dictates policies that exacerbate inflation, devalue the currency and impose heavy taxation on the populace. Public spending on essential services like healthcare, education and infrastructure is continually slashed to meet debt obligations. The IMF facilitates this by entrenching its people throughout key government finance positions, ensuring loyalty to its mandates.

Asset Stripping

Under IMF directives, Pakistan is selling off state enterprises and assets. Critical resources, including energy utilities, mineral reserves and state-owned enterprises like PIA, have been privatised or on the course to being so, stripping the nation of its wealth and placing it in the hands of private ownership.

The Players in the Game

The network of those benefiting from Pakistan’s debt is extensive. It includes not only corrupt political dynasties like the Zardaris and Sharifs and top establishment officials but also technocrats with Western degrees and refined public personas. To the dismay of many, even Imran Khan and his PTI party, despite their anti-corruption rhetoric, has played its part in this racket. During their tenure from late 2018 to early 2022, they borrowed at an average rate of $10 billion per year, double the annual rate of the previous administration. The PTI also granted the State Bank of Pakistan autonomy, effectively ceding control to the IMF, and appointed IMF affiliates to key positions to effectively take charge of the economy.

A Call for Radical Change

The solution is not a mere change of corrupt leadership but a complete overhaul of the corrupt policies that perpetuate this cycle of debt and economic misery. Pakistan needs a ruling system that rejects interest-based loans, avoids excessive taxation, prevents the free printing of currency and halts the sale of state assets.

A genuine Islamic system, with its detailed economic system pertaining to the prohibition of usury, minimal taxation and that too of only accumulated wealth and not periodic income, bimetallic currency standard and a disciplined management of state resources, is the only framework that will lead the state to not just recovery, but genuine prosperity.