ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's military leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who remains under U.S.-led Western pressure to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, also faces another challenge: that of reforming his country's battered economy.
Although some of the punitive economic sanctions imposed following Pakistan's 1998 nuclear tests have been relaxed, the country is not far from economic collapse.
In just a few months, the government must begin preparing for another round of international debt restructuring. One cornerstone of the proposed new restructuring is a yet-to-be-negotiated IMF program that would give Pakistan the credibility that many of its other lenders and donors seek.