Reforms in the bureaucracy, a new approach, patriotism and vibrant and competitive markets are necessary to increase the growth rate so that the economy could be put on track of development. This was a consensus developed at a stakeholders’ dialogue on ‘Framework for Economic Growth of Pakistan’ held at the University of Sindh (UoS), Jamshoro on Thursday. The dialogue initiated by the Planning Commission of Pakistan (PCP) to develop an implementation strategy on its recently launched framework was organised by the Governance Institute Network International (GINI) and the UoS with the support of the Department for International Development. UoS Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Parveen Shah presided over the inaugural session, whereas a large number of students, academia, media, entrepreneurs, officials of the PCP and other stakeholders participated in the discussion.
GINI Adviser Daniyal Aziz briefed the audience about the salient features of the new growth strategy. He said the objective behind the dialogue was to take the input of the stakeholders, especially the academia, civil society and entrepreneurs about the growth policy. He said the new strategy emphasised the role of the state, governance methods and competitive markets. He lauded the efforts of the PCP for highlighting the issue of growth.
PCP officials Dr Haroon and Imran Ghaznavi highlighted the key points of the framework and received the participants’ suggestions. In his video address, PCP Deputy Chairman Dr Nadeemul Haq said Pakistan’s growth rate has been very volatile as our long-run growth is continuously declining due to lack of growth policy.
“We believed that economic growth will increase through foreign aid and projects, but in fact, it did not and consequently our growth rate went down from 7 to 3 percent,” he said.
Citing the examples of India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as the grownup economies, he said Pakistan is the only country in the region where growth rate is continuously declining. He also warned that if the situation persists, it would totally shatter the economy.
He further said, “Our current strategy is based on the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), so we are using public resources to build infrastructure and taking up projects. At the PCP, we have realised that the PSDP cannot alone increase the growth rate and we are losing Rs 300-400 billion per annum through the programme.”
Stressing the need for a change in growth policy, Dr Nadeemul Haq said, “We require a sustained GDP growth that should be 7 percent to cater to the needs of two million children who are annually adding to our population.”
He said besides building infrastructure, high-rises and highways, we should focus on better government, good governance, competitive markets, creative cities and a conducive environment for trade and entrepreneurship.
“We need to manage all the sectors of governance, including the old magistracy system. We still haven’t introduced technology in the government institutions and are running a civil structure of the 19th century without reforming it,” he added.
Haq said, “We need to have creative cities connected not just with highways but connected intellectually, physically and culturally with the hub of globalisation.”
He said the growth strategy must target the youth and community. Looking at constraints of growth, he said there is a lack of competitive markets and government reforms.
“The government must be able to bring professionalism to economy and focus on policy and regulations, leaving ownership and financing of assets as well as management and production to the private sector,” he added.
He called upon the academia to come forward and discuss the issue of growth with the students and society, research the subject, examine the government policies and accept or reject it so that the country could be put on the right track.
Earlier, Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Parveen Shah said the economic programmes launched from time to time lack political commitment that leads to unemployment and terrorism.
Appreciating the PCP’s efforts to produce a new growth policy, she said it is a challenging task and needs full commitment.
