Serious Paper Crisis in Pakistan; Students May Not Receive New Books in the Upcoming Session

• Image Credit: Internet

• Jun 24, 2022 | Dhupali Das

This will prevent the textbook boards of Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from printing textbooks.

Digital Desk: The Pakistan Paper Association has warned that the lack of papers in the nation will prevent students from having access to books in the upcoming academic year, which will start in August 2022.

Reportedly, while global inflation is the root of the paper problem, the current paper crisis in Pakistan is also a result of bad government policies and the monopoly of regional paper companies.

The country's top economist, Dr Qaiser Bengali, spoke during a joint press conference with representatives from the All Pakistan Paper Merchant Association, Pakistan Association of Printing Graphic Art Industry (PAPGAI), and other paper-related organisations. During the press conference, they warned that students would not have access to books for the new academic year beginning in August because of the paper crisis.

According to Pakistan's local media outlet, the country is experiencing a major paper crisis, with paper prices surging and rising daily. As a result, publishers are unable to fix book prices.

This will prevent the textbook boards of Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from printing textbooks.

In the meantime, a Pakistani columnist has questioned the "incompetent and failed leadership" of the nation, asking them how they plan to address the nation's economic issues at a time when it is caught in a vicious cycle of borrowing loans to repay the previous loans.

Ayaz Amir, in an article written for Pakistan's Dunya Daily newspaper, said, "We have witnessed the policies of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Yahiya Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and former Pakistani President Ayub Khan. We have observed the governments of tyrants, and they all shared a trait: they borrowed money to address issues before borrowing more to repay the initial loan."  He claimed that this cycle of debt perpetuity was still in effect and that Pakistan had reached a point where no one was ready to provide it with any more loans. According to local media, he wrote in his column, "We couldn't address the economic difficulties of our country when the population was 11 crores during the era of Zia ul Haq. How will our inept and failed rulers improve the economy when the population has doubled to 22 crores?"

Regarding the repayment of its loans and other investments in Pakistan, China has struck a difficult deal with Pakistan. Pakistan used a USD 4.5 billion Chinese trade finance facility during the fiscal year 2021–2022, paying roughly USD 150 million in interest to China. For the 2019–2020 fiscal year,  Pakistan paid USD 120 million in interest on loans totalling USD 3 billion. 

China has been very strict in seeking financial compensation from Pakistan. For instance, Chinese investors have frequently asked that problems with current project sponsors be resolved in Pakistan's energy sector to attract new investment.

Due to Pakistan's significant USD14 billion cyclical debt in the energy industry, some Chinese projects there are having trouble obtaining insurance for their loans in China.

Although China has significant involvement in Pakistan's debt issue, the country's economy has been mismanaged by successive governments, which has resulted in the current stalemate.

A significant contributor to the economic downturn is the large number of loans obtained from China, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, as well as 13 loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over 30 years (with the majority of loan programmes being cancelled midway for failure to meet loan conditions).

China has responded to Pakistan's repeated demands for assistance. The 2019 USD 6 billion IMF loan has also been put on hold. Ironically, Pakistan does not mind portraying itself as a debt junkie. Pakistan's debt is only growing due to this strategy, which has not been successful. Pakistan must keep a careful eye on events in Sri Lanka since that country may be the next to suffer the effects of unsound economic practices and massive debt loads.