Month: October 2008

There is acute financial crisis in Pakistan. Foreign exchange reserves have depleted and the govenment has to pay a huge $3bn in the next three months against the installment of its debt. The currency is losing its value with each passing day and inflation is on the rise. Prices of essential commodities are increasing on almost daily basis. The entire siuation is compounded by lack of policy and direction from the not-so-new democratic government of the country.

There is no doubt that the finances of the country were in bad shape and the gravity of the situation required that an able hand be placed at the helm of affairs. The political leadership instead of managing the finances of the country, devoted its time on making and breaking of political alliance only and attended to none of the major issues threatening the government. The only readily available tool available to the government for getting money is to increasing taxes on petrol and energy charges which has further thrown everything in a chaos.

We were not expecting a solution for all the problems in six month. It is a short time and most of the problems were inherited from the previous government, but in six month’s time the government should have come up with a comprehensive plan to improve the situation and and a direction should have become very clear by now.

Pakistan is paying dearly for its role in the war on terror. It is said that Pakistan is the most important state in the war and without the support of Pakistan, this war cannot be fought at all. It should have been the responsibility of the world power to insure that Pakistan remains stable both politically and financially. What we are seeing is that it is being forced into doing things which has ruined the economy of the country. There is insurgency in two provinces and suicide bombing has become a common phenomenon.

The law and order situation in the country has deteriorated which has resulted in the flight of capital. Foreign investment is not coming and Standards and Poor has decreased the rating of the country with a negative outlook. The government has now appointed a former CEO of Citibank as advisor to the prime minister on finance with the powers of the finance minister. He is heading to Washington in a desperate to save the country from default.

 As the financial crisis continues to have its effect, more and more people will find it difficult to pay back their loans on time which will have its effect on their credit history. Over the years BadCreditOffer.com has emerged as one of the leading websites offering solutions people with bad credit history.

The financial problem created in United States is now beginning to take its toll in other countries of the world as well. This image has been taken from BBC News website which showed the graphical representation of the effects of the financial crisis and its effect in world money and stock markets. It all started with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were taken over by the US government by injection $200bn. Despite this one of the major US investment banks, Lehman Brother collapsed due to bad mortgage debts and now this is having its effects in the other parts of the world as well.

Before the situation comes to normal I think many small countries will pay dearly due to this crisis. Despite the $700bn dollar bail-out plan approved by US Congress all is not over as yet. It will take considerable time before things become normal.

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Another suicide bomb blast has occurred in Pakistan. This time the blast has occurred at the residence of an MNA of Pakistan Muslim League – N. According to reports more than 25 people have been killed and scores injured. The political leadership in the country has as usual given stupid statements condemning the attack. We are a confused nation. We have been living in confusion ever since independence of the country in 1947. We have not yet decided whether Pakistan is an Islamic country or it is a country where people from all faith can live peacefully. In all these years we have not been able to decide about the medium of instruction in our educational institutions.

The other big confusion nowadays which has gripped the entire nation is whether the war on terror is our war at all? So many people have been killed and we are still being told by our worthy politicians that it is not our war? If it is not our war then why so many people are being killed in suicide bomb attacks?

Pakistan is an unfortunate country. It is being destroyed by its own people. Religious zealots in the country think that the only way to get salvation in the hereafter is to make a suicide bomb attack and kill innocent people. There have been a number of suicide attacks in which a number of innocent people have been killed. Pakistan could have become a prosperous country in these sixty years. Many countries that had gained independence after Pakistan have moved much ahead and have become economic power. China is a clear example. It gained independence after Pakistan and has now sent men in space.

The bomb blasts have a negative impact on the economy of the country. Business activity has declined and foreign investors are reluctant to come to the country. A lot of money has been taken out of the country which has greatly weakened the financial position of the country, so much so that it does not even have sufficient foreign exchange reserves to pay for the import bill. What do these people want? What message do they want to deliver to the common people of Pakistan?

I think it is time that the people of the country rise against them and force the government to take ruthless action. If the present situation continues I think that the government will default in international payments.

My name is Nuzrah. I shall be two years old on 30th October.

Citibank was to acquire the banking operation of Wachovia in a deal that was brokered by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and US government. Citibank had nearly finalized everything when the battle for the acquisition of the fourth largest bank in US took another turn when Wells Fargo announced that it will buy Wachovia for $15.1bn. Now that much more money has been offered, Wachovia has walked out of its earlier agreement with Citibank.

Citigroup has object to this saying it amounts to breach of agreement which gave exclusive acquisition rights to Citibank. The new deal if finalized will be helpful in keeping Wachovia intact as Citibank was only buying the banking operations for 2.2bn.