The ruling PTI has finally ended the suspense. Pakistan has now formally approached the IMF for a $12 billion-bailout. The bad news is that the country may need up to $20bn to stem economic haemorrhaging. The international media has made much of the seemingly mixed signals coming from Islamabad. They are right to do so. Among the biggest concerns is that the Imran Khan government may be rather backward in coming forward on the number-crunching front. That is, in a bid to maintain the electoral dream of establishing an Islamic welfare state the Centre may well be tempted to undersell the gravity of the nation’s fiscal health. Preferring to hedge certain bets on touching up some friendly nations for loans of a different kind. Though pundits warn that this will do nothing to inspire investor confidence. For as cripplingly stringent as IMF repayments are — prevailing market wisdom dictates that the Fund is, at least, a known entity that is open to public scrutiny. The same cannot be said for private bilateral deals. Indeed, the Fund has insisted that the Prime Minister open up the books on Chinese investment; a pre-election pledge. This is entirely reasonable given that external debt is on schedule to reach $8bn this year. Add to this the fact that the first tranche of the CPEC return, due next year, totals $1bn. This is not to point the finger at Beijing. But, rather, to call on the government to adopt a strategy and stick to it. Pakistan cannot afford to waste any more time in the twilight zone. Apparent disconnect within the cabinet itself is not helping matters. It was left to the Information Minister to rule out tapping China for yet more bilateral cash; or, indeed, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. With regards to Riyadh, this should not come as too much of a surprise given how the latter is all set to build an oil refinery at Gwadar. But what is worrying is how Fawad Chaudhry hinted that unacceptable terms were behind the decision to go it alone with the Fund. This has led analysts to conclude that the question of Pakistani troops being deployed to Yemen was raised once again. If true, the new set-up was right to turn its back on uneasy petro-dollars. That being said, it needs to be honest about the terms and conditions of Saudi investment in Balochistan. Not least because Riyadh has been co-opted by the US to help secure the latter’s exit from the Afghan quagmire. Meaning that Islamabad risks becoming overly dependent on the Kingdom in terms of investment and security; which could prove a troubling combination in the future. Thus the only thing that Pakistan can do is be completely honest with both the IMF and the citizenry. This means no more talk of how this storm will be weathered in no more than three to six months. Such wilful myopia serves no purpose. Pragmatic realism can be the only prescription. * Published in Daily Times, October 12th 2018.