September 7, 2008 (LPAC)--Now that the British-led efforts to break-up Pakistan has reached an advanced stage, it seems the IMF is now trotted out to do the "mercy killing." Armed with privatization and fiscal deficit reduction as killer weapons, an IMF delegation is going to arrive in Pakistan next week.

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff assessment of Pakistan's macroeconomic situation has called it "fragile and vulnerable to a crisis." According to the IMF "experts" responsible for the assessment, Pakistan's external current account deficit for 2008-09 will be $14 billion or 7.7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). With capital inflows of about $7 billion, the IMF estimates the external financing gap to be around $7 billion.

Ready with the murderous solutions, IMF recommends that Pakistan's fiscal deficit should be reduced to 4.7 percent of the GDP and electricity subsidies should be eliminated. In addition, privatization, which has been dormant since the Pakistan Steel Mill sale was blocked by the Supreme Court in 2006, will have to be stepped up, IMF announced. The IMF believes that Pakistan needs to broaden the base of the general sales tax to include services. It should also tax commercial agriculture under income tax, eliminate tax exemptions and strengthen tax enforcement.