PAKISTAN’S poor economy has been the result of economic policies of the past regimes and poor budgetary controls of the government organizations.
The present regime has to bear the burden of all the wrong-doings by the past regimes. In its short term, the present regime has taken many corrective measures in the national interest but much time is required for the economy’s turnaround. Organizations in Pakistan after September 11 are constantly struggling to adapt to the stupefying change in the external environment that has weakened our economy. The government should quickly build platforms that will act as leverage for the economy.
The leadership counts a lot in changing the economic fate of a country. In future, no one will be celebrated or questioned so much by the posterity as the leader who showed no vision in providing economic strength to the country. Foreign economic aid must not be relied upon and economic resources within the country must be explored.
There is no dearth of good-will among our people. The only thing which can raise their spirit is being close to their heart and mind is to listen to them. A good leader reflects the ambitions, feelings, and pain of his people. It is time to listen to them.
In order to revitalize the economy, our government has to be realistic in understanding that some western countries have been busy building their economy giving an impression all the time that they were rehabilitating our economy. Those who were part of our black economy are bona fide citizens of the white economy of the western countries. Their wealth was once within the reach of Pakistan and now that wealth is poured into the western economies from where we take our loans. Our country is unfortunate in the sense that it could not manage to create conducive socioeconomic conditions for the people who migrated to some other countries.
Now our government should quickly lay down policies to revitalize our economy and encourage those expatriates to invest their money in Pakistan, freely and fearlessly. The government should sincerely reciprocate this gesture and direct the revenue-generation agencies to offer them treatment they genuinely deserve.
We have now become an atomic power but in today’s world, atomic weapons, although quite essential deterrents, but in other sense are quite useless because they are not to be used. We have seen the disintegration of the USSR in spite of its having atom bombs in great numbers. The economic bomb on the other hand, is deadlier than atom bomb. Pakistan is facing the fall-out effect of economic bomb which may take a very long time to finish unless we take a strategic leap forward and manage to keep in view the deeper and more permanent things.
The geo-political circumstances have put immense pressure on Pakistan and the fall-out effects of September 11 have badly affected Pakistan’s economy and the country is faced with uncertainty and confusion. In fact, the economy has come to a stand still. Retrenchment and reduction in manpower is being regularly contemplated and rather enforced by Pakistani organizations to adjust themselves to the new circumstances.
The economic crisis has also threatened the social status, and the moral and economic security. People are faced with actual or threatened unemployment. Crimes such as suicide, and prostitution etc are on increase and more and more cases of mental disorders are coming to light. Controlling these tendencies, may lead the country to a healthier living conditions, and may indirectly result in the revitalization of economy.
After the September 11, changes reverberate around the world. We have a tough time ahead and we should be ready to face it. Our businesses must rebound confidence. Pakistani people and their businesses have always shown an unrivalled unity all the time. At this moment, our patience, flexibility and resilience are the qualities that would take us out of turmoil and uncertainty.
The government on its part must show that it has the capacity to revitalize the economy through new ways with the cooperation of the people. It must outlive all previous efforts and methods it has made to overcome economic crisis; it should liberalize the policy of utilizing the unused economic resources and optimizing the existing resources already in production. This will bolster the economy by releasing its potential force.
Business today if facing the most intimidating of times. Our government must listen to what people are saying. Only that way the government can act better in revitalizing the economy.
The government must make use of economic synergies within the country in achieving its economic goals and objectives faster than ever before.
In our troublesome economy, the traditional method of doing work does not work. We must give our people new kinds of incentives to achieve our economic goals and objectives. A very big sector in our economy which is still fully unexplored by the government — is our educational industry. The government should immediately pay attention to encourage its development. The government should lift bans and barriers to liberalize the private education, accept private degrees and diplomats and qualification of private institute for government jobs after bench marking fees while reducing the number of government institute in parity with government institutes and generate revenues for the government.
Affiliations should be granted to all private institutes on payment of government fees without preconditions and centralized exams should be conducted round the year in every city for private business and other institutes. This activity can remove the disparity between recognized and unrecognized degrees, create employment, huge revenues for the government, and income for examines/ professors of government institutes as they suffer most during inflation because of their fixed income. This step will discourage the monopoly in business and computer education in Pakistan and encourage market economy where market forces will decide the price of knowledge workers.
When we are thinking to revitalize the economy, we are going to reduce government expenditures by transferring extra burden on private sector. As development and training of work-force improves productivity, reduces frustration and helps self employment, private business and other institutes can prove to be a powerful weapon in revitalizing the economy.
Every day we are making wrong perception of problems, wrong economic choices and wrong decisions. We are solving the country’s problems by correcting the results of the problems rather than removing the root cause of the problem. We are solving our revenue problems by tightening the noose on tax payers rather than by liberalizing the economic policies and increasing the number of economic activities and productivity. We are controlling crime by increasing the police force rather than by reducing the number of crimes and causes of crime through social justice and moral influences. We are opening more hospitals rather than improving living environment.
The government should encourage the flourishing economic activities in Pakistan. India became a big soft ware supplier in the world due to tax incentives while IT investors in Pakistan wee reluctant in investing their money in software industry.
In order to revitalize the economy, the government should take the following steps:
* Control and contain the religious elements by intelligent ways and improve the business environment.
* Respect the tax payers by seeking their cooperation and encouraging economic activities.
* Take industrialists into confidence by giving them concessions to increase productivity and employment.
* Launch productivity campaign along with demand management in foreign sector as it is vital to our economic strength.* Gear our embassies abroad to provide information to our businesses about what the customers in foreign countries want after September 11.
* Make temporary stops to unproductive expenditures within controls.
* Develop the transportation system on priority as it may lead to tremendous economic growth.
* Keep-unemployment and inflation rates within controls and take measures to help fixed income people who are hurt by inflation.
* Restore confidence of local and foreign investors and liberalize the trade.
* Give incentives to financial intermediaries to create demand for funds as this will generate more business activities and hence more revenues for the government.
* Measure economic performance on daily basis to improve GDP.
* Create and accelerate the economic inertia and momentum for economic revitalization by balancing optimization and innovation, focus and experimentation, discipline and passion, evolution and revolution.
PAKISTAN’S poor economy has been the result of economic policies of the past regimes and poor budgetary controls of the government organizations.
