'We'll end up like Sri Lanka': Pakistan stares at economic collapse as IMF visits
India TodayPakistan is gripped by a major economic crisis, with the rupee plummeting, inflation soaring and energy in short supply as IMF officials visit to discuss a vital cash injection. "If they don't, the country will certainly default and we'll end up like Sri Lanka, which will be even worse." State petroleum minister Musadik Malik told reporters in Islamabad that imports of Russian oil would start in April, paid for in currencies of "friendly countries" in a mutually beneficial deal. The tumbling economy mirrors the country's political chaos, with former prime minister Imran Khan heaping pressure on the ruling coalition in his bid for early elections while his popularity remains high. "Even if Pakistan avoids default, the underlying structural factors that triggered the current crisis -- one exacerbated by poor leadership and external global shocks -- will still be in place," tweeted political analyst Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.