ISLAMABAD: The government should prioritise an inclusive political economy without any political fiddling by any of the stakeholders. Politicians should sit in the parliament to do the legislation and ensure its implementation in letter and spirit.

This was stated by speakers at a webinar titled: ‘The Prospects of Charter of Economy for the new government and the new IMF deal’ was organised by the Devcom-Pakistan.

According to a statement, the speakers said whatever party comes into power it should limit the federal ministries to 10. The ministers should pass on the vision and mandate to the teams of technocrats as they know their job well. The performance of the governments world over depends on the technocrats based on ‘right person for the right job’.

The speakers said the IMF was not a villain but a fiscal regulator. We need to listen to their proposed measures and take them accordingly. All the political parties and other stakeholders shall come together to handle the budget deficit, increase tax base, to get rid of the subsidies and reduce the state expenses.

Shrinking the bureaucracy and implementation of civil service reforms is a must to reduce burden on the national exchequer. The sluggishness and red-tapism are the hallmark of Pakistan’s bureaucracy. The other one is the politics of agitation that shall come to an end.

The keynote speakers included former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan and Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Vice Chancellor Dr Nadeemul Haq, and former senior economist at US Treasury Department’s Office of Economic Policy.

Dr Nadeemul Haq said: “Pakistan is facing the brunt of political immaturity, inefficient governance system, bureaucratic negligence and stagnancy. Public expenses are huge for no output. The economic crisis cannot be addressed without addressing the cartel of banks, stock market malpractices, and the absence of technocrats in the governance decision-making. There is a crisis of social contract and distrust among the politicians and other stakeholders.”

“We need to talk about the foundation issues for a larger national interest. Transparent and inclusive deregulation and an open market policy perhaps would help a lot to attract domestic and foreign investment in the soaring infrastructure,” he said.

Dr Nasir Khilji said Pakistan was a victim of generosity of friends such as the US, China, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.

“Their support has been misunderstood and misused in Pakistan. The country has also been a victim of vested interest of leadership across the board where, in many cases, the integrity lacked and reigned over the motivated objectives. Pakistan is a library of recommendations but no implementation of any proposed frameworks,” he said.

Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director Munir Ahmed urged the need of civil society observers in the political governanceas a watchdog.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2024