Wednesday 11 December 2013

Pakistan’s lessons for Ukraine | beyondbrics #EuroMaidan

Pakistan’s lessons for Ukraine | beyondbrics:

"
What’s next for Ukraine? None of the options available seems to offer much hope. Sign up with the EU/IMF? Too many conditions. Sign up with Russia’s rival customs union? Too much opposition on the streets. Muddle through? A looming balance of payments crisis makes this a short-term option at best.

Something clearly has to give. Maybe Pakistan’s recent experience with the IMF offers some pointers as to what and how.

There are some obvious parallels. Pakistan faced daunting debt repayments, including repayments to the IMF. So does Ukraine. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves had fallen to dangerous levels. So have Ukraine’s. Among other conditions, the IMF wanted Pakistan to reduce energy subsidies the Fund said it could not afford. It wants the same thing of Ukraine. The Pakistani government refused to accept the IMF’s conditions, and its previous IMF programme had collapsed following failure to comply. Ditto, and ditto, in Ukraine."

'via Blog this'

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