Pakistan is currently going through its worst days as the economy of the country is in great trouble due to continuously depleting foreign currency reserves. In such circumstances when the foreign currency reserves have come down to 4.5 billion Dollars, the stakeholders of the state are utilizing all the possible options to raise the depleting reserves for ensuring the survival of the state. Civil-military leadership is on the same page in this regard. Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir is on the visit of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates and the Prime Minister and his team including Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Foreign Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is in Geneva to interact the whole world for the sake of getting assistance to meet the challenges posed by the worst flood of history last year.
During the Geneva conference, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif actively raised the issue of the country and asked the world powers for assisting Pakistan in this time of need. Resultantly, the world powers and international institutions have assured the country that they will fully cooperate with Pakistan in this regard. Islamabad says the Geneva conference is focused on two objectives: the “Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework (4RF)” strategy to secure international support, and to find a way to build long-term climate resilience and adaptation against climate change in Pakistan. Khalil Hashmi, Pakistan’s permanent representative at the UN office in Geneva, said: “The objective is to secure international support for the 4RF, which includes institutional, financial and implementation arrangements for post-flood recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. The conference will help us forge long-term partnerships to strengthen Pakistan’s climate resilience and adaptation.”
On the first day of Geneva conference, Pakistan on Monday raised more than $9 billion seeking support for its recovery from last year’s devastating floods a billion more than requested. The pledges came as the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan kicked off in Geneva. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif co-hosted the conference along with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The purpose of the day-long moot attended by heads of state and government and other stakeholders was to marshal international support to rehabilitate the population affected by super floods and reconstruct damaged infrastructure in a climate-resilient manner. During the conference, PM Shehbaz sought $8bn from Pakistan’s international partners over the next three years to rebuild the country as Guterres called for massive support to aid the rebuilding effort. The largest commitment on Monday – $4.2bn – came from the Islamic Development Bank Group. World Bank vice-president for South Asia, Martin Raiser, announced a $2bn contribution. Other contributors included the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Saudi Arabia, the EU, Japan and China.
Asking world powers and international institutions for help under the shadow of the United Nations (UN) is an effort of the government to deal with the current crisis. But, one thing should be clear that the aid which has been pledged by the countries and institutions in the conference will not be given to country promptly. This money will be given in phases with the strict check and balance on its spending. So, the aid pledged in the Geneva conference is not the solution of the current crisis. The default danger is still there. Country needs prompt dollars to protect its economy from default.
Published in Daily Country News, January 11th, 2023.