Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa Friday blamed “fiscal mismanagement” for the country’s economic crisis, days after he was made a member of a new panel set up to stabilise the economy.
Addressing a seminar on “Pakistan’s Economy: Challenges andWay forward” at the National Defence University (NDU), he said the armed forcesplayed their part by voluntarily foregoing annual increase in defence budgetand it was not the only step they were taking the improvement of the economy.
Pakistan’s Parliament on Thursday unanimously approved theRs 1,150 billion defence budget for the next fiscal (2019-20).
 In a move that wouldfurther expand the Pakistan Army’s influence, General Bajwa was made a memberof the newly-formed National Development Council headed by Prime Minister ImranKhan last week.
Pakistan’s military, in a rare move, early this monthdecided to voluntarily cut the defence budget for the next fiscal year andassured the nation that there would be no impact to its “response potential”due to the voluntary cut in the budget.
“We are going through difficult economic situation due tofiscal mismanagement. We have been shying of taking difficult decisions,” theChief of Army Staff (COAS) said at the seminar organised by the Institute ofStrategic Studies, Research and Analysis (ISSRA).
Speaking about the current economic situation, he said thatit was due to failure to take difficult decisions.
“We understand that the government has gone for difficultbut quintessential decisions for long term benefits and what we are doing isplaying our part. We all need to fulfil our responsibilities in this regard sothat these difficult initiatives succeed,” he said.
Cash-strapped Pakistan is to launch an austerity drive fromnext month to solve the financial woes.
Gen Bajwa said that there were examples in recent past whenother countries also faced similar challenges and they came out successfullyafter taking difficult decisions.
He said Pakistan would also wade through these challenges.
“In difficult times no individual alone can succeed unlessnation comes together unitedly. It is time to be a nation,” he added.
Gen Bajwa said that the sovereignty of a country was linkedto its economic progress, as there was undeniable linkage between security andeconomy as both directly complement each other.
He also highlighted Pakistan’s efforts for restoringregional peace as it would lead to better trade connectivity.
Speaking about the regional connectivity Gen Bajwa said that”countries cannot develop individually, it is the region which develops”.
“For our region to develop we need to have greater regionalconnectivity amongst all neighbours,” he said.
Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and EconomicAffairs Abdul Hafeez Shaikh counted perpetual security threats, inconsistenteconomic policies, poor economic discipline and lack of will to take difficultdecisions in the past as major contributors for the present economic situationthat the government was facing today.
Pakistan in 2018 was the 20th biggest military spender inthe world with an expenditure of USD 11.4 billion, a report published by theStockholm International Peace Research Institute said in April.
Prime Minister Khan’s government has negotiated a USD 6 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund to overcome the financial woes facing the country. The government’s budget focused on austerity, growth and tax collection. PTI