Pakistan’s economy stands at a critical juncture right now. The fiscal impact of the pandemic was bad but could have been managed if it wasn’t for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which fueled domestic demand to unsustainable levels. On top of all this, the country has experienced an unprecedented series of floods that have displaced millions and put even more pressure on the rupee as it grapples to assert itself in a hostile international market. Since 1958, Pakistan has made 22 agreements with the IMF; vowing to develop human and social capital, encourage inclusive growth and complete its transformation into a competitive knowledge economy. Needless to say, Pakistan has fallen horribly short of those goals-our human capital development metrics are abysmal, tax collection is half of what it should be and investment levels, primarily fueled by foreign savings, continue to lag behind our regional competitors. Currently, the country is faced with a balance of payments crisis and has been forced to use up foreign reserves to compensate for its massive fiscal deficits. Pakistan’s survival has become intimately tied to bailout packages from the IMF; after each successive agreement, we end up exactly as we have been before. This has a lot to do with our failure to introduce preemptive structural reforms that can help the economy grow in a balanced and even way. Compared to countries like Bangladesh and India which have invested 30 per cent of their GDP, Pakistan has invested a mere 15 per cent; perpetuating our reliance on foreign savings when we could be focusing on domestic national savings instead. Currently, the country is in the process of negotiating another such deal with the IMF -after missing its Quantitative Performance Criteria, Pakistan hopes to acquire waivers from the organization which are conditional on the country making substantive structural adjustments to its economy. To gain economic stability, it is essential that Pakistan remain connected to the IMF which has bailed us out many times in the past and can help create more space for sustainable macroeconomic growth as we move into FY23. *