Pakistan, Oct. 14 -- The International Monetary Fund has offered developing countries a bitter pill. With the Iran war driving up energy costs and tightening already strained budgets, governments must either cut spending or restructure their debts. There is little quarrel with the calculations. But the Fund's assertion that vulnerable economies have "no other choice" glosses over an awkward question: why must countries already living hand to mouth bear the steepest costs of a war they neither started nor control?

The irony is hard to miss. The IMF's latest outlook projects global growth of 3.1 per cent in 2026, buoyed partly by investment in artificial intelligence. Yet this prosperity is hardly making the rounds. While wealthier economi...