Pakistan, April 30 -- Pakistan has availed of 23 IMF programs since 1958, but due to internal and external reasons, the adoption of IMF policies has not benefited substantially. Pakistan has earned the unfortunate title of "one-tranche nation" which alludes to the nation's history of taking out loans at crucial junctures and then prematurely abandoning them due to a balance of payments crisis.

Pakistan first sought assistance from the IMF in 1958 when General Ayub Khan initiated the country's engagement with the IMF by signing an agreement to obtain special drawing rights (SDR) 25 million through a Standby Agreement.

After a while, in 1965 and 1968, respectively, Ayub's finance team pursued two consecutive IMF programs. On this occasion...