Care to explain if things were going so great under your favorite previous govt, how come Pakistan incurred these massive trade and current account deficits?
And no, PPP didn't leave behind massive deficits like your favorite CHOR govt. PPP only left behind pretty manageable 3 billion dollar current account deficit, while your favorite CHOR govt left behind more than 18 billion dollar record deficit!
Before I even begin to respond to your off-the point topics, I must remind you and others that being a Karachiite, those who know me on the forums are already aware, that I have always been an MQM supporter and so in no sane mind could I ever be a PML supporter. But when given the option to be Governed by the corrupt but competent PML or corrupt and incompetent PPP or extremely corrupt and extremely incompetent PTI, I would prefer the least of all evils i.e. PML. Now lets move forward.
In response to the posts, I was speaking about Government coffers being empty when PPP left and you decided to bring in CAD instead!!! Perhaps you have no idea what each is and so decided to pick up a point which, in your own opinion, would look favorable to your argument. Well, it does NOT! Let me explain.
CAD was simply because we were importing more than we were exporting. A reason for this is because during PPP (and perhaps during the later stages of Musharraf), not enough attention was paid to the growing need for stable power which resulted in massive shortfall thereby rendering a large part of manufacturing and industry in bad shape, unable to produce enough to keep our exports high. This was the reason for decline in exports during the last 10 years or so.
A large chunk of the imbalance between export and import was offset by remittances, the remaining had to be adjusted through loans. However, what is important to note is what our largest import bill was or the top 5-10 items on our import list due to which our imports were so high. I don't have time to search our top 5-10 items in the 2014 through 2017 bracket but this is the list of imports in 2018 which is almost 73.2% of our total imports:
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$17.1 billion (28.4% of total imports)
- Machinery including computers: $6.3 billion (10.4%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $4.3 billion (7.2%)
- Iron, steel: $3.7 billion (6.1%)
- Organic chemicals: $2.8 billion (4.6%)
- Vehicles: $2.6 billion (4.3%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $2.5 billion (4.1%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $2.1 billion (3.5%)
- Oil seeds: $1.5 billion (2.4%)
- Cotton: $1.3 billion (2.1%)
Now, which of the above would you recommend NOT importing? It is not our imports which are flawed, it is merely our inability to increase exports and with surplus energy and stable power complemented by a large network of newly implemented road network we can start increasing our exports to someday overtake our imports.
What's wrong with this inflation? It has been more insane before. This is necessary and expected during this stablization phase.
So now you must pay back higher taxes to finance those roads and power generators built by previous "smart" govt. Why keep crying about tariff hikes and inflation then? There are no free lunches. Your smart previous govt built these for you at a much higher cost than what was necessary because of rampant corruption. Now you must pay the price for their "smartness". Stop crying and pay your bills!
The only thing wrong with the graph of inflation that you have posted is the fact that it is incorrect. With GAS (143% + 213%), Electricity (37%+), Petrol (30%), Diesel (40%), Cars (average 30%) etc., and other consumer items going up from 10's to 100's of times, how can any sane person accept the concocted graph showing a mere 13% inflation? Actual inflation would be closer to 40% or more.
And worst of the matter is that it is NOT the previous Government which is to be blamed but the current Government which rap** the economy by allowing spontaneous devaluation of the rupee to as low as Rs. 164 to a USD. The cost of imports, from petrol to diesel to computers and machinery and raw material etc., all shot up out of control. This was NOT the correct move to arrest imports which could have been arrested with mere increase of taxes on non-necessary items. The lower imports also directly effected the collection of taxes on these items and indirectly through lower output due to higher cost of business (again much more expensive machinery, spare parts and raw material etc.) dealt another blow to the Government's financial power.
Flat lie. Where is the evidence? Taking currency devaluation and retirement of massive 10 billion dollar debt into account, PTI has taken less loan than previous govt last year
Stop buying in the PTI BS and Lying. Here is a quick summary (from wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_Pakistan):
"In 2008, external debt of Pakistan only increased by 22 percent in that period, from US$42.8 billion in 2008 to US$52.4 billion in 2013. During that period, external debt as a percentage of GDP decreased from 29.5 percent to 23.4 percent.
After 2013 Pakistani general election, Nawaz Sharif came to power. During their rule of five years, Pakistan's external debt increased from US$52.4 billion to US$76.3 billion, an increase of 46 percent, mainly due to sukuk bonds and
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
As of March 2019, external debt of Pakistan is now around
US$105 billion. Pakistan owes US$11.3 billion to Paris Club, US$27 billion to multilateral donors, US$5.765 billion to International Monetary Fund, and US$12 billion to international bonds such as Eurobond, and sukuk. About fifth of the external debt which is estimated around US$19 billion is owed to China due to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
You may also be interested in
https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/pakistan/external-debt
So, please stop believing the filth that spew out of PTI's mouth and the start praying for Pakistan to recover from the absolute nightmare that PTI has plunged Pakistan into.