Embezzling from the IMF

Fewer than half of the 87 countries that received a combined $118 billion in emergency loans pledged to account for their spending. When Covid-19 convulsed the world, the IMF disbursed $118bn in emergency loans to 87 countries to help them through the crisis. In a tweet on April 15, 2020, the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, counselled governments to “do whatever it takes” to fight the pandemic, “but make sure to keep the receipts.” Now a reckoning has begun, as the IMF is requiring many countries to conduct independent audits of how the emergency funds were spent before approving new loans. In Africa, Latin America, and other regions, the receipts are not adding up, and some officials have landed in jail. Only a small number of countries have made information from audits public, and what’s available indicates that a significant amount of the aid —hundreds of millions of dollars — was misappropriated.

(Adapted from “The IMF Rushed Out Billions For Pandemic Relief. Where’d It All Go?” by Sheridan Prasso, published on Oct 27, 2021, by The Bloomberg Businessweek)

Afghanistan & Balochistan

Even though America has abandoned Afghanistan, its imprint is still there, along with the death and destruction it left behind. It is likely to increase if Afghanistan continues to be held under sanctions; in this case, we shall expect a mass influx of refugees. After 9/11, Afghanistan has served as a launching pad to cause disturbance in Balochistan. Luckily the situation is under control for now, given that 50,000 refugees have entered Balochistan. Other than the refugees, Afghans straddle the border of Pakistan without documents under the easement rights to do their businesses and jobs. The informal trade between Balochistan and Afghanistan has a considerable share, along with smuggling and drugs. Balochistan is one of the lucrative markets for drugs and serves as a transit route. If the drug and opium trade is not controlled effectively, we will have many more drug peddlers and drug trade that will flow into Balochistan with the influx of refugees from Afghanistan.

(Adapted from “Afghanistan Development Impact On Balochistan,” by Azwar Muhammad Aslam, published on October 22, 2021, by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics)

Explaining crypto wallets

You can’t fold up a bitcoin and put it in your wallet. Yet you can hold the keys to your crypto by using a crypto wallet of your own. A crypto wallet is a software program or physical device that allows you to store your crypto and allow for the sending and receiving of crypto transactions. A crypto wallet consists of two key pairs: private keys and public keys. A public key is derived from the private key and serves as the address used to send crypto to the wallet. The important part of a wallet — and the part where new users often find themselves getting into trouble — is the private key. A private key is like the key to a safe deposit box. Anyone who has access to the private key of a wallet can take control of the balance held there. Crypto users who hold their own private keys and make transactions using non-custodial wallets (ie a wallet not hosted by an exchange) become their own bank.

(Adapted from “What is a crypto wallet? Understanding the software that allows you to store and transfer crypto securely,” by Brian Nibley, published on Oct 28, 2021, by Business Insider)

Facebook addiction

Facebook researchers have estimated that one in eight of its users report engaging in compulsive use of social media that impacts their sleep, work, parenting or relationships, according to documents reviewed by the Journal. These patterns of what the company calls problematic use mirror what is popularly known as internet addiction. They were perceived by users to be worse on Facebook than any other major social media platform, which all seek to keep users coming back, the documents show. A Facebook team focused on user well-being suggested a range of fixes, and the company implemented some, building in optional features to encourage breaks from social media and to dial back the notifications that can serve as a lure to bring people back to the platform. Facebook shut down the team in late 2019. That same year, Facebook researchers had found compulsive use of the app hurts sleep, work or relationships for 12.5pc of the flagship app’s more than 2.9bn users or more than 360m people.

(Adapted from “Is Facebook Bad for You? It Is for About 360 Million Users, Company Surveys Suggest,” by Georgia Wells, Deepa Seetharaman and Jeff Horwitz, published on Nov 5, 2021, by The Wall Street Journal)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 15th, 2021