'Heights of begging': Pakistan PM gets trolled for saying global lenders spending billions on war but not helping Islamabad
Pakistan, which has been running low on forex reserves, has been struggling to secure funds to stave off defaults. The country has been locked in negotiations to secure $1.1 billion, part of a bailout package sanctioned by the IMF.
- Jun 25, 2023,
- Updated Jun 25, 2023 6:33 PM IST
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is being trolled for criticising the global lenders - International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank - for not helping the country recover from the catastrophic flood last year. He recently said that global financial institutions had money to give for wars but not for flood-hit Pakistan.
Speaking at the two-day New Global Financing Pact Summit in Paris, Sharif on Thursday said 33 million people were affected by those floods and millions of acres of standing crops were washed away while around 1,700 people had died. "We had to cough out hundreds of millions of dollars from our own pocket with our scarce resources...and when we approached international institutions, they said, 'Well, we can give you loans'."
Sharif said when these institutions were asked whether the already stretched resources of Pakistan be burdened further, their reply was debt structuring would not be suitable for the country. "Billions and billions of dollars are being spent over there to defend a country...on one hand, you are ready to provide everything for the defence of a country or countries but when it comes to saving thousands and thousands of people from dying, then one has to borrow money at a very high cost," he decried.
Pakistan, which has been running low on forex reserves, has been struggling to secure funds to stave off defaults. The country has been locked in negotiations to secure $1.1 billion, part of a bailout package sanctioned by the IMF. However, there is no sign yet of the release of this fund as yet.
Seen in this background, Sharif's comments evoked some reactions on social media with some calling it "the heights of begging". "I think he must open up a global beggar University in Islamabad. As these fellows have reached the heights of begging. Name should be ' Quaid Bhikhari Taleem University," said Hemang Kelaiya, a Twitter user.
Commenting on Sharif's remarks, Major Gaurav Arya (retd) said: "Shehbaz Sharif lectures the world - you have money to fund wars but not Pakistan." "This is called swag," Arya said, referring to Sharif's confidence while seeking money from IMF and World Bank. "Isko kehte hain swag. Maango to haq se maango. Dene wale ko sochne pe majboor kar do…ki Pakistan ko paise na de ke woh gunah-e-azeem kar raha hai."
Wasif A Khan, a Twitter user, defended Sharif, suggesting that Pakistan's current situation was partly due to what it did for the West in Afghanistan. "It was for the right or wrong reasons, Pakistan did fight two wars for The West in Afghanistan, which are the key reasons for Pakistan’s existing economic situation. Hence, we do have a right to ask them to help us get out of this crisis," he wrote on Twitter.
An entrepreneur suggested that Pakistan had done nothing for others and that it should not expect to be financed by the world forever. "What has Pakistan done for others that it deserves to be financed by the world forever?" he asked. "Where has Pakistan spent the billions of dollars it received from the USA, China, and other countries all these years?"
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is being trolled for criticising the global lenders - International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank - for not helping the country recover from the catastrophic flood last year. He recently said that global financial institutions had money to give for wars but not for flood-hit Pakistan.
Speaking at the two-day New Global Financing Pact Summit in Paris, Sharif on Thursday said 33 million people were affected by those floods and millions of acres of standing crops were washed away while around 1,700 people had died. "We had to cough out hundreds of millions of dollars from our own pocket with our scarce resources...and when we approached international institutions, they said, 'Well, we can give you loans'."
Sharif said when these institutions were asked whether the already stretched resources of Pakistan be burdened further, their reply was debt structuring would not be suitable for the country. "Billions and billions of dollars are being spent over there to defend a country...on one hand, you are ready to provide everything for the defence of a country or countries but when it comes to saving thousands and thousands of people from dying, then one has to borrow money at a very high cost," he decried.
Pakistan, which has been running low on forex reserves, has been struggling to secure funds to stave off defaults. The country has been locked in negotiations to secure $1.1 billion, part of a bailout package sanctioned by the IMF. However, there is no sign yet of the release of this fund as yet.
Seen in this background, Sharif's comments evoked some reactions on social media with some calling it "the heights of begging". "I think he must open up a global beggar University in Islamabad. As these fellows have reached the heights of begging. Name should be ' Quaid Bhikhari Taleem University," said Hemang Kelaiya, a Twitter user.
Commenting on Sharif's remarks, Major Gaurav Arya (retd) said: "Shehbaz Sharif lectures the world - you have money to fund wars but not Pakistan." "This is called swag," Arya said, referring to Sharif's confidence while seeking money from IMF and World Bank. "Isko kehte hain swag. Maango to haq se maango. Dene wale ko sochne pe majboor kar do…ki Pakistan ko paise na de ke woh gunah-e-azeem kar raha hai."
Wasif A Khan, a Twitter user, defended Sharif, suggesting that Pakistan's current situation was partly due to what it did for the West in Afghanistan. "It was for the right or wrong reasons, Pakistan did fight two wars for The West in Afghanistan, which are the key reasons for Pakistan’s existing economic situation. Hence, we do have a right to ask them to help us get out of this crisis," he wrote on Twitter.
An entrepreneur suggested that Pakistan had done nothing for others and that it should not expect to be financed by the world forever. "What has Pakistan done for others that it deserves to be financed by the world forever?" he asked. "Where has Pakistan spent the billions of dollars it received from the USA, China, and other countries all these years?"