Pakistan ‘Addicted’ To IMF Bailouts Like A Drug Addict, Says Former Central Bank Official

The Pakistan government has become addicted to borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), much like a drug addict, and has failed to break free from a self-created cycle of foreign exchange shortages and repeated bailouts, according to a new report.

The sharp comparison appears in an article by former Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Riaz Riazuddin, published in Dawn, which offers a critical assessment of Pakistan’s long-standing dependence on external financial support.

The article argues that repeated IMF programmes have gone hand in hand with fiscal profligacy, reflected in the government’s persistent inability to curb unnecessary expenditure or generate sufficient revenues to maintain debt sustainability.

Pakistan is currently undergoing its 25th IMF programme, a statistic the author presents as evidence of entrenched dependence rather than genuine economic reform or course correction.

The report compares compulsive borrowing to addiction, noting that expectations of bailouts encourage unsustainable spending.

While external support offers short-term stability, it erodes fiscal discipline and forces borrowing for survival rather than growth. It also highlights denial, with governments delaying reforms by claiming growth will recover on its own.

The report criticises policies that keep the rupee overvalued, encourage imported consumption, and depend heavily on selling foreign exchange reserves.

Remittances have temporarily boosted dollar reserves, but exports have stagnated, and the government has failed to deliver meaningful structural reforms.

The report warns that unless authorities implement lasting reforms, IMF packages will benefit the government while ordinary citizens bear the costs of delays, rising prices, and prolonged economic instability.

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