Breaking the begging bowl?
From the Blog PkColumnist.com: Breaking the begging bowl? - Leader (addressing the press conference): Foreign aid is a curse in disguise. It's high time we break the begging bowl and take the bold decision of saying goodbye to foreign assistance once and for all. In fact, foreign aid is so bad that we should prefer eating grass to begging for aid. Foreign aid exacts a heavy price from the recipient nation, both political and economic, and the greatest cost is loss of sovereignty. External assistance always has some strings attached to it – visible or invisible – which result in erosion of policy space for the aid-receiving country. A self-respecting nation should jealously safeguard its independence and shun any external assistance, even when it is offered. Any questions? Journalist 1: Whatever little knowledge of economics I have, I can say with confidence that foreign capital is not bad in itself and that it played an important role in the growth of the present industrialised economies. Foreign capital is needed to bridge the gap between domestic savings and the desired level of investment. This is especially true of Pakistan, which has one of the lowest tax-GDP and savings-GDP ratios in the world. At the moment, Pakistan's economy is in dire straits and, realistically speaking, it can hardly survive without the dose of external assistance. Talks of sovereignty make little sense when a nation is struggling to survive. Leader: It's better to die with honour than live in disgrace. A people must not compromise its self-respect even if the price is starvation. In our case, however, the people will not starve as Pakistan, being an agricultural country, is endowed with plenty of grass. So in the worst-case scenario, the people will have to eat grass. Not a big deal. Journalist 2: Sir, if foreign capital is bad, then foreign goods must also be bad. A people who look down upon external assistance should also, by the same token, shun foreign or imported goods. But I have never heard you or any other politician of note call for boycotting imports. Should we also reject foreign goods? Leader: Why should I call for boycotting imports? A person must go mad before coming up with such a foolish demand. Look, we have to move on the road to development, and move fast. We need capital equipment for setting up factories, oil to keep the wheels of our economy moving and information technology to maintain the window on the world. None of this is possible without imports. Journalist 1: This is what I meant when I said that we needed foreign assistance. We need aid to buy imported goods and services. Our indigenous resources are too meagre to finance our import bill. Leader: That's where your argument is weak. We have plenty of resources; they only have to be harnessed. At any rate, I don't want progress at the expense of national honour and dignity. Journalist 3: Sir, I see eye to eye with you that the nation should say no to foreign assistance, but only in an ideal situation. But, then, in such a situation, we will not need external assistance at all. Again, in an ideal situation, the more affluent Pakistanis will bring back their dollars, euros, pounds and francs. However, we live in the actual world and the country is in the throes of an economic crisis. The foreign currency accounts that well-to-do Pakistanis maintain abroad will not be repatriated back for two reasons. One, the bulk of the money is ill-gotten, and if it is brought back questions will arise as to its source. Two, when a country is precariously placed politically and economically, the dominant trend is capital flight rather than capital inflow. Leader: Yours is a comment, not a question, and I can't comment on your comments. Journalist 3: Ok, sir. My question is: would you bring back the money deposited in your foreign accounts? Leader: I'm talking of issues and you are getting into personal things. Your questions must focus on issues. Journalist 4: Sir, the real issue in breaking the begging bowl is lack of a credible leadership. I'm sorry, but we don't have leaders who can stand by the people in their hour of trial, who can share their enormous wealth with the masses, and are ready to part with their privileged position in society? It is a nice political slogan that the nation should prefer eating grass to begging for foreign assistance. But who will eat grass? The leaders who say this have a luxurious lifestyle which will make even the richest in the developed world envious of them. They live in palatial houses, drive in imported bullet-proof cars, and have scores of gun-toting bodyguards. Such leaders can hardly be expected to share the price of safeguarding sovereignty with the people. Hence, it will be the ordinary people, already squeezed by the galloping inflation, who will have to pay all the price of sovereignty. Leader: You have a lot of comments but not a single intelligent question. I think I had better wind up the press conference. . Read Full Post
Ronaldo, Zidane play for Pakistan
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Nando's to Host Open Mic Night Fortnightly at Lahore
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Backup Cydia Apps Themes Tweaks For Later Use [How-To]
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