Ivy League expectations?
That the N-league over-sells the economy now and then, to win political points, is hardly breaking news. What’s politics, after all, without a healthy dose of political correctness? And what government does not like to take credit for favourable economic indicators – like drop in international Brent crude and subsequent low domestic inflation – even if they have precious little to do with official policy? But the claim that Pakistan will be a mini-superpower by 2025 cries out for more than a pinch of salt. Surely Ahsan Iqbal could have come up with a better marketing strategy for his planning and development.
Significantly, he seems to have built the superpower case on the work being done on cluster based technology in agriculture and mining, which will naturally lead to robust development and growth. He also mentioned, of course, that we’ll have to jack up exports and introduce a manner of value addition or the mini-superpower status will leave a little something to be desired. There’s no doubt that whatever groundbreaking work is being done on cluster based technology deserves appreciation and support. But one would question the rationale of a Wharton-grad planning minister expecting the technology to stimulate exports, improve education, control the deficit, raise taxes, build infrastructure, reduce poverty, improve services, etc, all of which are necessary for ‘robust growth’. Not very Ivy League expectations, Mr Minister.
That the government, especially its economic team, needs to be more grounded cannot be stressed enough. Time and again the economic managers take credit for development far beyond their control, yet have little or nothing to say about matters that deserve their most urgent attention. All concerned ministers should, at present, be drowned in the matter of raising revenue. They have been unable to raise taxes. And, despite Iqbal’s enlightening talk, they have made zero progress on exports. All they do is borrow to spend. And with the IMF program on its last leg, they had better solve the revenue dilemma before it is too late. That is what Pakistan needs, not fancy talk about economic dreams that never come true.
