We have had four governors-general, 17 presidents, and 23 prime ministers. Since joining the IMF in 1950, Pakistan has had 24 IMF arrangements. Coincidentally, the 24th prime minister of Pakistan is the first in our history to lay the foundation of a ‘Homegrown Economic Plan’. Three questions: Why did it take us 74 years to understand that the IMF’s core mandate is to ‘promote international monetary cooperation’? Why did it take us 23 prime ministers to realize what is clearly spelled out in the IMF’s Articles of Agreement? Why did it take us 23 prime ministers to realize that the responsibility to reform and restructure directly falls on a ‘Homegrown Economic Plan’?

Tanzania’s Ministry of Finance went through 14 IMF arrangements before realizing the need to shift its focus to a ‘homegrown plan’. This led to the development of the ‘Mkukuta’ strategy, which emphasized self-reliance,........

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