Pakistan lacks strategy to turn migration into sustainable development

Young freelancers built bridge to global economy; that bridge is now burning

Gap between what is said, meant and heard can carry profound consequences

Prolonged Gulf conflict can reduce annual inflows, pose threat to external account

Without structural reforms that expand productive capacity, poverty risks becoming entrenched

Without performance-linked NFC allocations and administrative reform, the cycle will persist

Provinces receive rising transfers while federation bears debt pressure, stabilisation costs

Multiple elite clusters capture system as each extracts benefits in different ways

External pressures are rising without growth dividend that once cushioned past busts

Triumph in macroeconomic charts masks decline in living conditions for many