Economic Recovery of Pakistan: IA Hashmi

Although the signs of recovery in the Pakistani economy, which has been suffering from a state of stagnation for many years, are clear, it will take time to reach a point where the situation can be called satisfactory. The fluctuations in the stock exchange, which is called the barometer of the economy, are considered to be the result of several factors including government decisions, political situation, international scenario, and it is rightly said that the performance of the stock market can be used to assess whether the economy is on the right track or not. 

However, this fact should be kept in mind not only by the ruling government, but also by all political parties and economists, including the opposition, that the real measure of the weakness and stability of a country's economy and the correctness or incorrectness of its direction is the economic condition of the people of that country, employment opportunities, and prices of essential goods (especially food and drink). In many aspects of the economy, sometimes too much emphasis on improvement in one aspect leads to weakness in another. Economic managers have to continue their journey forward while maintaining a balance in all things. It is not easy for the middle and lower class people, who are suffering from the torment of debts, financial institutions’ conditions, heavy taxes, and unemployment, to understand that the fourth consecutive current account surplus is a sign of good days for them. 

However, the fact revealed by the central bank’s statistics released on Tuesday should be encouraging for everyone that in November 2020, Pakistan achieved a monthly current account surplus of $729.6 million in almost ten years. This level is the highest level since February 2015, while there was a deficit of $148 million in the same period last year. The statistics show that Pakistan’s external receipts in the five months are $15.5 billion, which is 33% more than the first five months of last year. According to the State Bank, remittances from Pakistanis living abroad played a major role in reducing the current account deficit. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is certainly right to express satisfaction over these figures, but a more satisfactory situation would be when the country's trade with other countries itself becomes a source of surplus in the current account. The money coming in the form of remittances is a boon to this. Overseas Pakistanis are the capital of this nation who have supported the country's economy through remittances. 

They should not only be valued but efforts should be made to encourage their investment in the country, and to keep the educational standards and fees, etc., across the country at a level that is not only attractive to overseas Pakistanis but also a means of attracting people from other countries. 

It is also important to keep in mind that it is in the national interest to avoid dragging overseas Pakistanis into domestic political conflicts. In this regard, it is necessary to establish an atmosphere of trust through government-opposition talks. It is important to keep this point in mind at the government level that it is not good to ask for sacrifices from the already crushed poor in the name of restoring the country's economy. Now sacrifice should be demanded from the resource-rich class which, despite receiving all kinds of privileges, has been following the practice of tax evasion since the establishment of Pakistan. 

Collecting taxes is the right of the state, but the burden of revenue should be placed on the rich and not on the poor.Spending revenue on the welfare of the people is the true measure of the fairness of a country's economic system.