Insufficient data disclosure is not only a problem in Pakistan.
HYDERABAD: This is with reference to Khurram Husain’s article of April 22 titled “Some things you’ll never know”.
I’m a researcher myself and I agree with the writer on most of the points that he has talked about. But there are others as well. For instance, it should be acknowledged that Pakistan is a developing country where there is a lot of data available for research, such as on public finances, capital markets, international trade and internal and external debt. Labour market data is perhaps the only key category which is not collected properly (or not collected at all).
Insufficient data disclosure is not only a problem in Pakistan. Similar issues arise in other countries as well, including developed ones. For example, in the US, the issue of the exact value of agricultural subsidies is a hotly-contested figure, as are public finances in the UAE.
Similarly, manipulation of data is not uncommon in developed countries. Most of the financial companies that caused massive havoc to America’s economy were rated highly by their credit rating agencies.
Then, in Pakistan, level of education and general awareness is also a hindrance. How many of us, say, read the economic survey carefully or at all? How many go through the State Bank’s quarterly reports, or even the executive summary? How many of us understands the difference between GDP calculated at constant versus current price, and how many of us can differentiate between inflation and the general price level?
Most people in the world rely on newspapers for information, be it economic, social or any other kind. How authentic and accurate are the stories on corporate and/or government corruption published in our print media? What is the methodology used in reaching conclusions?
The problem lies at the end of both the government as well as the citizen. The former does not want to make everything public. And even if it does, most ordinary people are not capable of comprehending and processing the information in a logical and rational manner.
MH Hussain
Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2011.
