President Asif Ali Zardari needs a mere £6 billion to avoid defaulting on his debts and stave off the immediate threat of bankruptcy. This sum is only 0.3 per cent of the amount now devoted to saving the global financial system.
For the amount that Britain is prepared to spend to salvage its banks - £500 billion - Pakistan could be rescued no less than 83 times over. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, America has given Pakistan £5 billion of aid. This is barely one per cent of the £458 billion that Washington may be forced to spend on saving Wall Street.
Bereft of oil and possessing little natural wealth, Pakistan has suffered decades of economic failure and stagnation. Ten years ago, it came within a whisker of formally defaulting on its debts and declaring itself bankrupt. So the country's leaders have become perennial seekers of bailouts.
Yet for once, the stigma attached to being an international beggar has entirely disappeared. Today, almost every government is besieged by formerly well-heeled beggars - and most are seeking far larger sums than Pakistan with its 165 million people.
In this time of crisis, saving a valued ally has never seemed so cheap.
For the amount that Britain is prepared to spend to salvage its banks - £500 billion - Pakistan could be rescued no less than 83 times over. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, America has given Pakistan £5 billion of aid. This is barely one per cent of the £458 billion that Washington may be forced to spend on saving Wall Street.
Bereft of oil and possessing little natural wealth, Pakistan has suffered decades of economic failure and stagnation. Ten years ago, it came within a whisker of formally defaulting on its debts and declaring itself bankrupt. So the country's leaders have become perennial seekers of bailouts.
Yet for once, the stigma attached to being an international beggar has entirely disappeared. Today, almost every government is besieged by formerly well-heeled beggars - and most are seeking far larger sums than Pakistan with its 165 million people.
In this time of crisis, saving a valued ally has never seemed so cheap.
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