Pakistan's IMF bailout: Good money after bad again?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has imposed tough conditions on Pakistan for disbursing instalments of the $7 billion loan that Islamabad negotiated with it under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Such IMF credit comes not so much with avuncular indulgence as with tough conditionalities meant to stabilize macro-economic variables.
The IMF is also giving Pakistan a climate resilience loan of $1.4 billion. We should wish the country all the fortitude it can summon to swallow that bitter medicine.
Also Read: The IMF's Pakistan loan spotlights the case for voting power reform
It is not in India's interest for any large poverty-ridden nation to implode in its neighbourhood. Pakistan has a quarter of a billion people, 40% of them below the World Bank's poverty line for lower-middle-income countries, 42% of them illiterate and multitudes apparently in thrall to distorted versions of Islam.
This is the 13th time Pakistan has tapped the IMF for bailout funds since 1991, when India last took a loan from the multilateral lender. Back then, New Delhi used IMF conditionalities to justify tough decisions that ruffled vested interests but opened up India's economy to competition, both external and internal, and spurred economic growth.
The IMF has done well to caution Pakistan that continued hostility towards India would damage its reputation and derail its recovery from perpetual crisis. India's defence minister Rajnath Singh made a fine point when he said that funds going to Pakistan under whatever guise or for whatever purpose amount to terror financing. Money, after all, is fungible.
Also Read: Mint Quick Edit | Pakistan's IMF bailout No. 24 and loan addiction
If external funds are available to stabilize Islamabad's finances and cushion the adjustment process as energy prices shed subsidies and selective state patronage masked as industrial policy is withdrawn, the resources needed for such constructive ends could go elsewhere. Diverted funds may reach what the Pakistani deep state calls 'strategic depth' acquired through unconventional methods.
The cost is borne mostly by India, which has suffered relentless terror attacks. As a lender to Pakistan, the IMF must closely monitor the end use of not just the funds disbursed under the EFF, but also of the local funds freed up by their infusion. If there was ever a case for extra-tight oversight, this is it.
Economic dynamism calls for macro stability and the development of human capital via quality education and healthcare. These are only the necessary conditions, not sufficient ones.
Also Read: Pakistan must wake up and smell the geo-economic brew
Cultural attitudes towards risk and failure are vital to entrepreneurship. By one hypothesis, Pakistan is short of social groups accustomed to making money by venturing it. Effective financial intermediation is a tough ask anywhere in the world, but tougher still in a place where an important form of return on capital—interest on debt—is seen by many through a prism of sin versus virtue.
Conservative values keep women out of the labour force. The female labour-force participation rate for Pakistan is only 24%, far below Bangladesh's 44%, Indonesia's 53% and the world average of 49%. This deprives the economy of a sizeable part of the human effort that can be mobilized to generate value.
Meanwhile, concentration of asset ownership worsens its woes of underdevelopment and contributes to keeping its democracy stunted. Addressing such problems calls for an emancipatory agenda and the political will to pursue it. An IMF stabilization programme is a far cry from what's needed to transform Pakistan, but perhaps it can stave off despair. And we could do with less hopelessness around us.
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United News of India
16 minutes ago
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The Print
17 minutes ago
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Law doesn't ban Bakrid sacrifice, but politics thrives on pretending it does
Three direct questions are relevant in this regard: which animals are to be sacrificed on Bakrid? Where should they be sacrificed? And what should be done to the blood and carcasses of the sacrificed animals? In fact, an impression is created that qurbani not merely symbolises the violent nature of Islam—which inevitably 'hurts non-violent Hindu sentiments'—but it also crosses the acceptable boundaries of law. These popular perceptions are so powerful that one does not bother to look at the legal framework that deals with animal slaughter in general and Bakrid sacrifice in particular. The aggressive campaign for a 'Green Bakrid' revolves around the idea that this particular Muslim festival is all about killing innocent animals. The Cruelty Against Animal Act, 1960 is often invoked to legitimise the demand that qurbani (sacrifice) on the day of Bakrid—or Bakra Eid—should be made completely illegal. Which animal to be sacrificed? My book, Contested Homelands: Politics of Space and Identity, shows how Bakrid became a highly controversial festival in colonial North India. The colonial authorities evolved a legal-administrative framework to deal with the question of animal slaughter in general and the slaughter of sacrificial cows on Bakrid in particular. These mechanisms, however, placed religious practices of different communities in a binary opposition to each other while simultaneously producing a contested notion of community-space. This administrative mechanism became the guiding principle for various animal preservation laws enacted immediately after Independence. These laws were mainly related to the protection of cows and other bovine animals from slaughter, especially those that were required for the purpose of agriculture and milk production. For instance, the Central Provinces and Berar Animal Preservation Act, 1951 placed a total ban on the slaughter of cows and restricted the slaughter of buffaloes, allowing it as a subject of certification by authorities, based on age and usability in the production. The Bihar Preservation and Improvement of Animals Act, 1955 completely restricted the slaughter of all categories of bovine cattle under any circumstance. The Act does not explicitly prohibit the slaughter of goats or sheep, but it does restrict the slaughter of the animals traditionally associated with the festival in Bihar. The UP Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955 also prohibited the slaughter of cows. However, it remained silent on the slaughter of other bovines. Most importantly, these laws criminalised cow slaughter, making it cognisable (arrest without warrant) and non-bailable offence. In short, almost all the state legislations passed afterwards prohibit cow slaughter, allow restricted slaughter of buffaloes, and most importantly, keep goats and sheep outside their purview. These laws, interestingly, did not problematise qurbani on Bakrid. In other words, restricted slaughter of bovine including buffalos and other animals like goats and sheep are not prohibited for qurbani on the occasion of Bakrid. Also read: Bakrid needs a makeover. India's poor need laptops & AC, not gift of meat How should it be slaughtered? The much-talked-about Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA), 1960 does not ban slaughtering of animals. This legislation seeks to prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering upon animals. It defines cruelty in the manner that includes over-loading during transportation, beating, lack of sufficient food, water, or shelter, and abandonment. The Act underlines specific guidelines in connection with slaughter of animals so that 'unnecessary pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is eliminated in the pre-slaughter stages as far as possible, and animals are killed, wherever necessary, in as humane a manner as possible.' PCA (Slaughter House) Rules, 2001 also puts responsibility on the governments and associated enforcement agencies to modernise and maintain slaughterhouses and slaughtering rules to ensure painless slaughter of animals. The PCA does not recognise qurbani as a problematic act. Section 28 of the Act provides immunity for the killing of animals for religious purposes. It says: '…Nothing contained in this Act shall render it an offense to kill an animal in a manner required by the religion of any community.' It is worth noting that the religious norms practiced by Muslim communities for qurbani are very much in line with the provisions of PCA. For instance, Islamic norms do not allow the slaughter of pregnant, sick, under-age, and/or the animals with deformities. Similarly, pre-slaughter care, which includes proper feeding and drinking and allotting resting time to the animal are given adequate attention. Prevention of cruelty during slaughter, which includes quick and painless slaughter with a sharpened knife away from the sight of other animals, also corresponds to the qurbani norms. In this sense, the very act of qurbani does not contradict the basic spirit of PCA. The Supreme Court has rejected several pleas challenging Section 28 of PCA, calling for a ban on qurbani. In July 2023, for instance, the Court ruled against an appeal filed by the Gopeshwar Gaushala Samiti, maintaining the constitutional validity of the provision under the constitutional right to religious freedom. The petition argued that after the insertion of Article 51-A—which outlines the Fundamental Duties of citizens—Section 28 of PCA cannot continue as every citizen is under constitutional obligation to show compassion for living creatures. The petition was filed against an earlier Allahabad High Court order, which had already dismissed the petition in 2017 on the same grounds. Also read: These Pakistani goats are being sold for PKR 2.5 mn. They're selfie magnets at Islamabad Mandi Where to perform qurbani? There have been no specific legal provisions regarding the place of sacrifice slaughters other than colonial bye-laws followed by different municipalities. For instance, the Bye-Laws Part III of the Delhi Municipal Committee, 1957 explains: 'No person can slaughter or cause or permit to be slaughtered at any place other than a public slaughter house an animal…this rule shall not apply to an animal intended for sacrificial slaughter on the occasion of any festival or ceremony … the slaughter of such animals shall not be carried on within the sight of the public except in the case of Zabiha in localities exclusively inhabited by Muslims.' The PCA Rules 2001 also provide that animals are not slaughtered in places other than those recognised or licensed by the concerned authority empowered under the law. However, it does not make any provisions for sacrificial slaughter. In the absence of any clear, legally designated spaces for qurbani even within the Muslim-dominated areas, Bakrid has become a contested festival in legal-administrative terms. Cleanliness and hygiene, we must remember, are also a matter of concern for urban Muslim communities living in areas already lacking basic amenities, regular water supply, proper sanitation, and community centres. However, these concerns have either been completely neglected or have now been reduced to politics over cow, meat, vague notions of vegetarianism, ahimsa (non-violence) and, above all, stereotyping minority culture and identity. The question of administrative intervention required for the efficient observance of Bakrid remains unattended. Nazima Parveen is a Senior Research Fellow at Policy Perspective Foundation. She tweets @ParveenNazima. Views are personal. (Edited by Prashant)
Time of India
32 minutes ago
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‘We've shown how to defeat terror'
'We've shown how to defeat terror' Rajnath Singh Jun 6, 2025, 20:32 IST IST Defence minister Rajnath Singh lays out GOI's new position of zero-tolerance of and assured retaliation against Pak-sponsored terrorism, also suggesting five ways the global community can fight terror Terrorism is a scourge on humanity. It thrives on misguided notions of revolution, martyrdom, and a romanticised view of violence. The assertion that 'one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter' is a dangerous misnomer — true freedom can never be built on fear and bloodshed. The currency of terrorism is fear. Yet, even in spreading fear, they have failed to instill any sense of pessimism. India is testimony to this fact. Whether it's 26/11 or the 2001 Parliament attack or the recent Pahalgam attack, India stands taller, stronger, and more resolute than ever. All peace-loving nations need to come together to eradicate this menace once and for all.
