One must appreciate Imran Khan’s relentless efforts to continue to beg from one and all, despite facing tremendous humiliation. As UAE and Saudi Arabia have already begun placing their bets against Pakistan, Imran Khan after knocking the doors of almost every country on the planet has now reached to the doorsteps of Pakistani foreign nationals with a begging bowl in the last-ditch attempt to save the country’s economy from an imminent collapse.
To boost its depleting reserves, Pakistan is planning to tap the pockets of its overseas citizens as it aims to raise funds through bonds or reserves. Pakistan has come up with a master plan to make money from its overseas citizens and therefore it will allow non-resident Pakistanis to open their digital accounts to buy government debt and invest in the country’s stock markets.
Pakistan’s economy has always been heavily relied on foreign capital which was already under stress due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic with the brilliance of Imran Khan and his ministers further worsening the situation for Pakistan. Qureshi blackmailed Saudi Arabia which proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the Arab nation as it is in no mood to spare Pakistan. The country is now asking Pakistan to pay back its billion-dollar loans ahead its repayment period with Imran Khan having to beg from China to pay off the Saudi loans. UAE has also bailed out Pakistan on multiple occasions with the bilateral relations between the countries in free fall ever since Pakistan sided with Turkey to make Erdogan the Caliph of the Islamic world.
At a time when the UAE and Saudi Arabia have stopped free lunches for Pakistan, the country has been left with no option but to now beg from its citizens. To put things into perspective, Pakistan received a whopping 23 billion of inflows as remittances – money from migrant workers overseas sent back to family members and friends last year which surpassed the country’s exports earning.
The remittances will also be in shortfall after Pakistan earned the wrath of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Pakistan receives a whopping $4.6 billion in remittances from the UAE alone. According to the World Bank, the remittances are likely to drop by 20% this year as the workers are being laid off in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Pakistan received approximately $5.4 billion as remittances from Saudi Arabia last year; over 87% of Pakistanis seeking jobs abroad went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.
However, this is not the first time when Pakistan has begged from its own citizens. Pakistan has often asked its citizens to pay up for many projects. In September 2018, facing a water crisis, Imran Khan asked the country’s overseas citizens to donate money for constructing dams. In a televised address, Khan asked Pakistanis living abroad to donate $1,000 apiece towards building dams in the country. Ironically, Khan personally assured that he will safeguard the donations against any ‘misuse’.
While the Imran Khan government continues to carry out blatant atrocities and discrimination against the nation’s minorities, Imran Khan has refused to discriminate when it comes to begging for loans and aid. He has fearlessly not hesitated to put up Pakistan for sale to the highest bidder. His government perhaps operates on the logic of $10 each per citizen per month should be enough to keep Jaish and Lashkar-e-Taiba running,