What will it take for Pakistan to cash in on exporting meat?

The news coming out of Q Block these days is full of contradictions. On December 17, the Prime Minister and the Chief of Defence Forces received a detailed briefing on the state of the economy. The main agenda item was getting rid of Pakistan’s addiction to the IMF.

With the ongoing bailout programme set to end in September 2027, the civil-military leadership seems unified in wanting to get this particular monkey off their backs. And why wouldn’t they? Pressure from different industries has been mounting to cut interest rates and ease trade restrictions. Economic governance in the country is little more than paper pushing the directives of the Fund these days.

But the government will not have a viable path out of the quagmire of the IMF unless it can somehow increase exports. Ahsan Iqbal, in his press conference after the briefing, did not mince his words: Pakistan would need to increase its exports by $20 billion in the next four years to $63 billion if it had any chance of making do without the IMF.

The only problem is that Pakistan’s exports have been decreasing in recent times. During the July-November period, exports reduced by over 6% instead of showing any growth. The textile industry, which makes up Pakistan’s largest export sector with nearly 60% of total exports, has recorded four straight months of declining exports. The government likes to talk a big game about increasing exports, but most of what they say is hot air filled with ridiculously outdated terms such as “breaking the begging bowl” and “roadmaps.”