The international rights group has made an impeccable case for why Pakistan needs more flexibility and time to bounce back economically. The question, however is, will the lender of the last resort pay heed?
By Ahmer Kureishi
ISLAMABAD: New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) become a potent voice for the less fortunate of the world this week by raising a voice for adequate protections for Pakistan’s poor and disadvantaged, already grunting under the burden of highest inflation the country has seen in 50 years.
In a statement issuing from its New York headquarters the other day, the international NGO called on the IMF to provide Pakistan the time and flexibility to achieve a sustainable, inclusive, and rights-based recovery.”
The statement comes as a veritable slap on the wrist of the IMF, which has a hard-bargaining field mission in Islamabad pressing the government for more belt tightening measures to balance the budget as the statement comes.
It also comes as a vindication of sorts for Pakistan’s beleaguered government, recently at the receiving end of lectures on the various aspect of debt and economy management from both domestic and international quarters.
Remarkably, the HRW goes all the way to point out the form the protections have to take: “broadening social protection systems and minimizing reform measures that risk further harm to the most vulnerable people”.
“With poverty, inflation, and unemployment soaring, Pakistan is facing one of the worst economic crises in its history, jeopardizing millions of people’s rights to health, food, and an adequate standard of living”, says the statement.
The HRW relates how the Pakistani government began formal negotiations with the IMF on February 1, 2023, to discuss a plan to rescue the economy. The plan involves the release of a USD 1.1 billion tranche of as part of a USD 6.5 billion bailout package designed to ward off economic meltdown under former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019.
“Millions of Pakistanis have been pushed into poverty and denied their fundamental social and economic rights,” the statement quoted HRW associate Asia director Patricia Gossman as saying. “The IMF and the Pakistani government have a responsibility to address this crisis in a way that prioritizes and protects low-income people.”
The statement touches on Pakistan’s exchange rate debacle and its dwindling forex reserves, takes into account the sky-high and rising inflation, factors in the prevalence of poverty and the devastation wrought by last monsoon’s cataclysmic flooding – and in short makes an impeccable case for why Pakistan needs more fiscal space and more time to climb out of the rut.
Pakistan is in policy level talks with the IMF to arrive at a staff-level agreement – subject to executive board approval to put the bailout program on track. how the fund factors this strong advocacy for Pakistan’s cause into account remains to be seen.
HWR conducts research and advocacy on human rights worldwide. The full statement may be read at the HRW website.
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