Pakistan said Friday that it would seek $4 billion in financial assistance, mostly from the World Bank, the Financial Times reported. Pakistan, a nuclear power and neighbor to Afghanistan, is on the verge of bankruptcy and if it does not receive the assistance it requires, the economy could collapse resulting in political upheaval and social unrest.

Pakistan has been wracked by inflation, currently running at 25% and its foreign reserves are dwindling. The nation’s currency, the rupee, last week sank to a new low of 84.4 to the dollar and has tumbled more than 33% against the greenback this year. Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves have shrunk to about $4.5 billion, or just six weeks worth of imports, the FT reported.

Unchecked political spending and poorly designed tax codes have also contributed to the nation’s economic shortfall. Less than 1% of Pakistan’s population of 164 million pays income taxes.

At least $2 billion

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...oil was the objective. Maybe. From ABC: Five years after the US-led coalition stormed into Iraq there is set to be another western invasion. This time it is the world's biggest oil companies leading the charge, 36 years after Saddam Hussein kicked them out. The oil giants are seeking access to Iraq's rich crude reserves, Australian companies BHP Billiton and Woodside are among them. The Iraqi government wants to make up for the lost opportunities under Hussein's rule and has the ambitious goal of doubling Iraqi oil production to more than 4 million barrels a day within five years. Peter Zeihan, an energy analyst at geopolitical intelligence group Stratfor, says there is plenty of incentive for the big oil companies. "They have the largest, easiest reservoirs to tap, they're very close to existing export points, there's infrastructure in place for over double the amount of oil that currently is being produced in Iraq," Mr Zeihan said. "When ...