| November 3, 2001 | Saturday | Shaba’an 16, 1422 |
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Making their voice heard
THE multi-pronged strategy outlined by the State Bank Governor, Dr. Ishrat Hussain, to tackle the situation arising out of the September 11 events in the US seems comprehensive enough to help seek a sustainable and long lasting solution to Pakistan’s chronic economic problems. One can clearly discern a growing realization in the capitals of developed countries that it is at a great risk to its economy that Pakistan has joined the world coalition in its war against international terrorism. The governments of these countries are, therefore, offering generous economic assistance to help Pakistan face the looming crisis with confidence and without getting economically ruined in the process. This indeed is a great opportunity which Pakistan must use not only to overcome the immediate economic repercussions of the on-going war in its neighbourhood but also to find long-term and sustainable solutions to its chronic economic problems. It is, therefore, a matter of considerable satisfaction to know that the government has already prepared a comprehensive strategy to achieve these two objectives.
Appropriately, the focus is on reducing the country’s debt burden, making use of greater and easier market access for the country’s exports, seeking concessional-term loans from international financial institutions, passing on the incremental expenditure on a fresh influx of Afghan refugees to the US-led coalition and, lastly, remaining poised for unlimited business opportunities for Pakistan when the reconstruction phase of Afghanistan begins on the conclusion of the war there.
In recent years Pakistan’s debt burden has gone far beyond the country’s ability to service it, forcing Islamabad to borrow, and that too on increasingly harsh terms, to repay the past loans. Since it was under all kinds of economic sanctions for a number of years, all concessional assistance to Pakistan had stopped flowing in, making the net flows of foreign resources highly negative. Accordingly, the government has very rightly decided to make use of the post-September 11 generous assistance offered by the donor countries primarily to reduce the debt burden amounting to as much as 38 billion dollars. Rescheduling of non-multilateral and non-commercial debt is one way of doing this. But this only postpones the liability. The other method is to convert the bilateral debt amounting to 12.5 billion dollars into future development aid for the social sectors. The third and best method is to try for a substantial write-off. Some countries, specially Japan, is constrained by its constitution not to write off its official loans. These countries could help ease the situation for Pakistan by converting their past debt into development assistance and, at the same time, increase the quantum of their concessional assistance to enable Pakistan to keep the net flows of foreign resources in its favour.
Meanwhile, the bilateral donors could help Pakistan earn more foreign exchange by allowing easier access of Pakistani goods into their markets by reducing the tariff barriers and increasing export quotas. The EU has already announced a package of concessions for this purpose. The US and Japan could also follow suit. This could certainly provide a longer lasting solution to Pakistan’s chronic shortage of unencumbered foreign resources. Increased exports would mean increased economic activity, greater employment opportunities and decreasing need for loans even at concessional rates. This part of the strategy should also attempt to persuade the European, American and the Japanese private sectors to consider shifting their low-tech textile and other manufacturing units to Pakistan for mutual benefit. This will bring capital, know-how and quality-related technologies to this country and also guarantee markets for exports. These rich countries which have a vital say in the decision-making process of the multilateral financial agencies could also help by nudging the IMF and the World Bank to provide more concessional assistance carrying less strict conditionalities.
This is not to say, however, that they should exempt Pakistan from essential economic and fiscal reforms. Reforms should be continued but their immediate negative impact in the form of recession and stagflation should be kept at the minimum. Pakistan has already made it very clear to the world coalition that it was not prepared to accept refugees except women, children, old people and the sick and that too only if the coalition and the UN first established the needed infrastructure and provided relief and succour. The post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan is likely to involve massive infusion of money, material and expertise. In that context, Pakistan can be a principal source of men and material needed for the purpose. But to be able to benefit fully from that opportunity, the private and the public sectors have to gear themselves up in terms of efficiency of performance.
THOUGH disturbing in the specific context, the report that the female councillors of Kohat had to stage a walkout from the council meeting to register their protest is indicative of a positive development in Pakistan’s political culture. Women have begun to speak up and one hopes that their voice will not be ignored. The councillors from Kohat were irked by the refusal of the speaker to allocate funds in the budget for women’s welfare programmes. This is not the first time female councillors have protested against gender discrimination. Earlier, women councillors from Nowshera had threatened to resign en masse because they were being denied a say in identifying development projects. The councillors from Shahdadkot were vocal in their protest when they were not allowed to attend the council session.
These happenings are not really surprising. As could have been expected, the men who have wielded power in the decision-making process are not willing to relinquish the control they have traditionally exercised in the sphere of governance in Pakistan. But the fact that women are now asserting themselves and refusing to accept gender discrimination without putting up a fight is reassuring. Now that the women’s struggle for participation in the political process is gaining momentum, it is inevitable that those who have been mobilized into playing an active role in public life will persist in their striving and will refuse to be pushed back into the confines of their homes. Of course, one must give credit to the government for creating the space for women in public life which they badly needed to safeguard their rights and interests. By reserving 33 per cent of the seats for women, the government has ensured that more than 37,000 women have obtained membership of the local councils where they could otherwise never have gained access.
True, the entry of women in such large numbers into the local government has made the female presence felt at this level of governance. But this in itself is not enough. As some reports stated, many of these women have been elected not so much on merit as by virtue of their subservient relationship with the influentials in their areas. Hence it is important that these women be mobilized to play an independent and positive role in local affairs. The Aurat Foundation has been doing a commendable job of training the women councillors and providing them the support system they need if they are to resist male pressure. The women councillors are now being driven by the momentum generated by this process. Many of them have begun to network and form pressure groups to counter the patriarchy which still characterizes our society. The mere fact that over 90 per cent of the women’s seats have been filled proves that women in Pakistan are ready to take up their role in political life and give a female perspective to policymaking.