Charter of Economy

At such a watershed moment when Pakistan’s economy is reeling on the edge of a precipice, one would expect the ruling edifice to call an economic emergency without any delay or take some inevitable measures on a war-footing to successfully deal with one of the worst financial crises in the country’s history. However, in the case of Pakistan, whatever is left in its star-crossed fate turns out to be nothing more than the bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and that too on such harsh conditions that no independent nation would ever accept in the first place, handing the lender the carte blanche on a plate to seal the fate of the borrowing country. The current regime led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, together with the previous governments, is primarily to be blamed for the ongoing economic crisis, rapidly pushing the country on the brink of sovereign debt default, along with an extreme contraction of the real economy, currency collapse thanks to unexpected changes in state fiscal policy, stagflation, income inequality, mass unemployment, greater insecurity, soaring energy and food prices as well as steep cuts to public expenditures and essential services. Let alone much-touted reforms, the incumbent setup has not been able to share a well-thought-of road map with the people on how it plans to take the country out of a deep-seated economic predicament.

Pakistan is in its tipping point crisis. In the current fiscal year, the country urgently needs a minimum of $32 to $34 billion to bridge the current account deficit gap and finance its debt. In the name of economic revival, the ruling elite is making makeshift improvisations to somehow accommodate the pressing requirements without planning for the future. This happens time and again and speaks volumes of their ability to steer the economic wheel in the right direction, as they cannot even think beyond the IMF to get the economic ball rolling. In fact, visionary leadership is required to lay the foundation of a robust economic structure to help shape policy and state governance by advancing domestic industries as the catalyst for the entire economic cycle. However, recourse to the IMF as the only way out is enough to drive the final nail in the coffin. In so doing, our finance minister seems to have been reduced to a client relationship manager for the IMF, and he is only appointed to take the IMF directives and ensure its full compliance pre-, during, and post-implementation phases. If the smooth running of a country’s economic affairs is rocket science, then we had better recruit some brainy boffins like Albert Einstein and Dr. Abdus Salam in place of so-called finance gurus like Muhammad Aurangzeb or Ishaq Dar to help the country emerge from its deep economic crisis. However, their consistent failure in meeting their primary goals suggests the nation is flogging a dead horse to make it pull a heavy load beyond its limit.

IMF or no IMF, there must be a whole host of other viable options available to put the country back on the path of economic resurgence and self-reliance, a formidable task indeed, which cannot be achieved without devising a charter of economy, similar to that of a charter of democracy. For this reason, all the main political stakeholders and businesses, not to exclude the powers that be, must show their willingness to change course and sit together to explore numerous ways to put Pakistan’s economy back on the path of progress beyond seeking bailout packages from the IMF. To take off for a brighter future, a consensus-based charter of economy is the last resort to evade total collapse.