The 4th National Debt Conference was held in Islamabad on the 26th of October 2017. The topic of the Conference was Debt, Spending, and Resource Allocation.
Dr. Almut Besold of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom called for greater discussion and debate on the improvement of fiscal management mechanisms in Pakistan. She said that the National Debt Conference was held not just to focus public attention on the risks of public debt, but to also enhance understanding of fiscal policy through credible analysis.
The first Session of the Conference narrowed in on the twin problems of escalating debt and government spending.
The panel of Experts on Debt Sustainability and Spending. From Left to Right, Ali Salman, Dr. Waqar Masood Khan, Dr. Ishrat Husain, and Dr. Vaqar Ahmed
Noted Economist, Dr. Ishrat Husain in his keynote address categorically rejected the notion that Pakistan faces any risk of defaulting on its debt liabilities. Dr. Husain noted that a great deal of confusion regarding the public debt exists in mainstream thought.
He was of the view that the most important and relevant way to assess the public debt would be to analyze it in terms of the Nation’s debt servicing capacity, especially of the external debt. The former Governor of the State Bank cautioned that lumping domestic and international debt together leads to incorrect analysis, as both types of debt have different effects.Read more at following link.
