ISLAMABAD: Major international donors are worried over the current political situation in Pakistan as they are not sure whether the next government will continue implementing the current reform agenda.
Reliable sources told Dawn that while the donor agencies were critical of the Musharraf administration for not having undertaken second generation reforms, they felt there had been no major deviation which could have plunged the country into an economic crisis.
Representatives from the World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Finance Commission (IFC) at local offices have been non-committal about the manifestos of major political parties.
They say if there is no continuity and consistency in polices of the future elected government, Pakistan would not be able to maintain a seven per cent growth rate.
“There has been a slowdown in the economy due to various reasons, including the persisting law and order situation and this is not good for the country,” a source said. He said he did not think the caretakers would take timely decisions to improve things, especially with regard to increasing oil prices and removing impediments in the way of local and foreign investment.
The new resident director of the World Bank in Pakistan, Crookes Yusupha who has replaced John Wall, is away from Islamabad these days. He is reportedly seeking some time to understand the country’s economic issues before talking about them.
And the IMF’s review mission is shortly due in Islamabad to assess the economy, particularly its performance during the first six months of the current financial year. However, insiders maintained that although Pakistan was no more opting for any IMF funding programme, the Fund officials have reservations on some issues and would sound out Pakistani authorities under Article IV.
Mr Abid Hasan, a former World Bank official, told Dawn that the manifestos of all major political parties, particularly PML-Q, PML-N and PPP, were identical. Mr Hasan, who has recently retired from the bank, said the international donors were unsure about the state of Pakistan’s economy after the elections.
He said the PPP was vocal about the welfare of labourers and workers. But its reform agenda was not much different from those of PML-Q and PML-N.
Abid Hasan said he was concerned about “continuity and consistency” in policies of the future government.
Mr Hasan regretted that the PML-Q government did not address essential issues, e.g. the energy and water crises. It also did not undertake major privatisation, he stated.
In reply to a question, he said he did not think Pakistan had achieved significant progress since 1999.
He was of the view that the first Nawaz government (1990-1993) had embarked on a liberalisation programme. And, he added, private infrastructure power projects started during the first PPP government (1988-1990).
The local chief of IFC, Mr Kaiser Nasim, said that there was a need to make economic institutions sustainable, especially by working out a sound 10-year policy for small and medium enterprises.
He said he would not comment on the political parties’ manifestos and their economic polices.