A new economic down low

The local business community will keep reiterating that Pakistan is suffering from competitiveness issues to no avail. It will point out flaws in the country’s enforcement of tax laws as well as lack of access to finance, but these calls will fall on deaf ears. Advocates of the government will say that improvements have been made and stop there. They will cite international institutions that have either upgraded Pakistan’s status or highlighted the country’s baby steps towards instability. But when a similar international report reveals that Pakistan has made only a slight improvement in the Global Competitiveness Index and actually lost ground in 50 of the 114 indicators there will be a deafening silence. In the latest development, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report revealed that Pakistan continues to languish at the bottom 20 of 138 world economies, although it has moved up two places. Out of 140 economies, compared last year, with Pakistan being placed 16 places from the bottom, the country is now placed 16 places from the last but with a comparison of 138 economies.

These are hardly passing grades for a government that thumps its chest while announcing that it has made much progress on the business environment front. High tax rates, corruption, instability in government matters, weak state institutions and poor infrastructure are among the few issues that downgrade Pakistan’s global competitiveness. In such an environment, how many vendors will look towards the country as a potential market? Security issues aside, the energy crisis and problems with regulation as well as bureaucratic hurdles have taken the shine off whatever gains individuals have helped the country make. While one cannot deny that there have been improvements on some front, the progress is always seen as relative to other economies. There, Pakistan has lagged behind. If exports have fallen at a faster pace than they should have, there is a good reason for it. The country needs to prioritise its business community to address the long-standing issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2016.

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