THE current IMF programme is scheduled to conclude in the latter half of 2027, yet, the debate about how effective it is has already begun. Many ask whether the IMF’s policy framework is responsible for sluggish growth, unemployment, poverty and inequality. But framing the issue in purely economic terms risks missing the deeper problem. Pakistan’s recurring economic crises are not simply the outcome of flawed technical policies or IMF conditionalities. They are symptoms of a far more fundamental challenge: a crisis of leadership that permeates the political and institutional landscape. It is institutional rot that runs deep. Unless addressed, Pakistan will continue to oscillate between temporary stabilisation and renewed economic distress.

Over the decades, successive governments have treated economic management as a short-term exercise in crisis control rather than a coherent national strategy. The prevailing approach has been narrowly focused on reducing the fiscal deficit — often without curbing wasteful public expen­diture — and compressing the current account deficit through import compression and capital controls. Stabilisation programmes are typically implemented reluctantly under external pressure and abandoned once immediate pressures subside. The political will for sustained reform dissipates just as conditions begin to improve.

This weak policy framework is compounded by the appointment of finance ministers drawn frequently from the banking sector, whose background in corporate finance does not necessarily translate into an understanding of public finance and broader economic welfare. Some finance ministers and central bank governors........

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