Dear Readers, The IMF warned on Oct 11 that the global financial system was on the brink of meltdown even as G7 finance ministers met President Bush at the White House to work together to solve the problem. It does not need an Einstein to figure out that developing countries will be the most affected should the IMF prediction come about. To say that this is bad news for Pakistan would be an understatement as it comes at a time when Pakistan's growth has virtually grinded to a halt, the downward slide of the rupee against the dollar has been alarming and our foreign exchange reserves have fallen to their most abysmal levels. Galloping inflation is eating away drastically into the peoples' buying power. The bombing at the Marriot Hotel in Islamabad hurt Pakistan in more ways than one; other than the terrorists' objective of inflicting damage and sowing confusion, it proved to be a major psychological blow to foreign investment. Will investors risk bringing in their money or send their representatives into Pakistan? With the people having little choice but to live with stagnant incomes and eke out a miserable living for their loved ones in their constant fight against ever spiralling cost of food and fuel, social frustrations have markedly increased. Even as the government struggles to solve these problems, frustrations will only keep on mounting until they reach boiling point in search of release; there is no telling what pent up emotions and disillusionment might then spawn. What could happen when thousands of unemployed and uneducated young men have nothing to look forward to? The future looks very somber indeed! For the benefit of readers, I am reproducing my recent article "AT ATTEMPT AT ECONOMIC TERRORISM".
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