Just to point out some facts,
I have covered the pros and cons of Asad Umer decision.
He did pulled things back a lot and slowed down the vicious cycle, the only problem with his plan was the one time nature of financing he secured like from gulf ( 3% is very good), but once it ran out we had to go to IMF ( a long term source of accessing funding) like their 36-39 months bailout package. Anyways going into details will be out of the context of this thread.
That coal is a very viable option, in fact the only cost effective and sustainable one. What it lacked was
economy of scale. I would be glad if you have not touched this topic especially when imported coal has crossed $145
The most appropriate time to go to IMF was when CAD hit $11b in 2017 without any cover. The damage was done by this point, and by 2018 we were in crisis with very real threat of bankruptcy.
Rest of your post I agree with.