IMF programs maybe influenced somewhat by geopolitics but the programs can be very helpful if managed well. Under President Musharraf's tenure, a point came where Pakistan actually refused further help from IMF. Even the Noonies grudgingly give credit to Musharraf for pulling back Pakistan from the brink where the stupid Nawaz Sharif regime had Pakistan in 1999. And to those who say that Musharraf era was financially good because of the post 9/11 American help: Partly true but the American help continued after Musharraf left in 2008 but still the corrupt PPP ruined the Pakistan economy.
As for the remittance: Strange some Pakistanis criticize the gains in remittances. Nobody, whether in govt or not, is saying that remittance is the 'cure' for Pakistan's problems but the critics should look at other poor countries and how they are working to export their surplus labor overseas and those countries include the mighty so-called 4th/5th largest economy of the world.
Remittances are like crutches until something else works out. Remove them and the country will fall into even more fiscal problems and may even crash and go bankrupt. Then who is going to revive that kind of a country? Some Lenin riding on tanks to Moscow? No. There would be anarchy. Anarchy! Do note that remittances are not just for TikTok or lavish weddings: A lot of construction industry is fed by the remittances and I hear there are 18 different industries which get involved due to construction activities.
Finally, all the Randi Ronda about the remittance by the Nay Sayers is because the remittance growth is happening despite their Messiah Khan's public pleas for overseas Pakistanis to stop the remittances. As simple as that. Such 'patriotic' Pakistanis some overseas Pakistanis are!
