Japanese Aid
- Ali Ashraf Khan, Karachi

THE rulers have told us that they have broken the begging bowl. The nation is grateful but confused at the news that $440 million have been obtained from Japan as developmental aid, and the World Bank and other IFIs have been requested for loans amounting to $10 billion for power projects and dam construction.

Mr Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, has announced development and poverty alleviation aid of $1.5 billion and $2 billion for roads and railway infrastructure development.

The Pakistani nation only knows of growth and development in its internal and external debt liability that stands today at Rs2,018 billion and $36 billion respectively. Our foreign debt liability up to 1977 was $2.2 billion.

This liability has increased manifold while no project of economic prosperity in the country has since been launched.

Corruption has been let loose under even the World Bank umbrella, which patronized induction of highly cost-inflated IPPs in 1993 onward which has added to the miseries of the people.

Every government promises that loans will be spent only for the purpose for which they are obtained and our parliament has finally passed a fiscal responsibility and debt limitation law to establish fiscal discipline in the country.

But ever since the passing of this law, parliament appears to be docile and reluctant to get a grip on the massive financial indiscipline going on. The public accounts committee also appears to be a toothless body.●

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