- And Dar sb also?
Time was, not too long ago, when Ishaq Dar was second only to the prime minister on the totem pole in Islamabad. He could do as he pleased; even, as finance minister, announce the central bank’s interest rate, on occasion, a full day ahead of the formal announcement in the only such example in the modern world. No Chaudhry or Khawaja stood between him and the big boss. But that was when Nawaz Sharif, also bound by family ties, was PM. Once the Panama Papers hangover chucked the Sharifs out of favour, Dar’s star, too, began to wane.
That, unfortunately, means the whole country is going to suffer. Dar continues to be finance minister even as he faces serious corruption cases, there’s a warrant out for his arrest while he lies in a hospital, supposedly, in London (till the time of writing), and the economy faces its biggest deficit in seven decades. Add to that the inevitability of international Brent crude rising again – after the handshake between President Putin and King Suleman in Moscow – and the subsequent balance of payments black hole which will necessitate a return to the Fund, surely, before the general election.
The economy is already at a tipping point. No government, civil or military, has been able to stimulate the tax-to-GDP ratio. And no government has been able to diversify exports. Hence the earnings always in red. Dar’s obsession with a strong rupee, artificially bloated of course, further depressed exports even as imports, especially luxury items, continue to grow. And no matter how pundits spin it, they cannot lay the entire blame for the deficit on necessary CPEC machinery. Dar sb is clearly no longer hands on, which makes the decision to appoint another in his stead, which rests with the PM, all the more important.