There is an urgent need to set the directions of our economy through objective analysis
LAHORE: When the world was witnessing the looming global financial crisis in 2008, the then President Nicolas Sarkozy of France formed a commission comprising Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, and the distinguished French economist Jean Paul Fitoussi. The commission’s task was to provide a comprehensive analysis of whether the gross domestic product (GDP — the most widely used measure of economic activity) is a reliable indicator of economic and social progress. They also investigated what its relevance is with the economic sustainability of average citizens.
The economic team of Nawaz Sharif’s government always takes credit for increased GDP, high collection of tax revenues, containing the deficit, exceeding foreign reserves to unprecedented levels and controlling inflation. The overflowing prosperity of certain segments of megacities endorses the said claim to some extent, but in reality, a sizeable number of our citizens have no access to clean drinking water, affordable health, sanitation, primary and tertiary education, and to employment opportunities. The farming community, which is the backbone of the economy, is suffering the worst due to falling commodities prices vis-a-vis rising input costs of their products.
There is an urgent need to form a commission of credible economists in the country, tasking them to assess whether our present development model of economy is serving the needs of our society at large. A rational analysis of our present development model will throw light upon solutions for the well-being of our society and provide guidelines to refine fiscal and monetary policies. At a time when policymakers worldwide are grappling with unprecedented financial and environmental issues, there is an urgent need to set the directions of our economy through objective analysis to achieve the goal of a welfare society.
Zafar Iqbal
Published in The Express Tribune, July 28th, 2016.
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