World Bank ruling against Pakistan shows global economic governance is broken

By Kyla Tienhaara

AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad

A Pakistani man walks past a shop that was closed due to a recent strike in Peshawar, Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistani businesses went on strike in a nationwide protest against an increased sales tax, which opposition political parties said was imposed as part of the International Monetary Fund’s recent $6 billion bailout package for Islamabad.

It’s been a rough month for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan.

It started off with the International Monetary Fund approving a US$6 billion dollar loan to the country. The strict conditions on the loan meant that instead of expanding the welfare state, Khan’s government had to impose “shock therapy” austerity measures.

Unsurprisingly, this resulted in nationwide strikes.

More at The Conversation

Opinion:

Austerity always crashes the economy.

Don't stop where the ink does.