I think an audit of the entire economic ‘miracle’ under Pervez Musharraf is warranted.
CHANTILLY, VA, US: Dr Akmal Hussain’s article “Poverty reduction in the Musharraf era” was good article. I think an audit of the entire economic ‘miracle’ under Pervez Musharraf is warranted. This should start with an economy that produced, somewhat magically, higher and higher growth rates. There are many articles coming out now, including Sakib Sherani’s piece in Dawn and Dr Pervez Tahir’s article in this newspaper questioning the data. If I recall correctly, the Statistics Division which should have been made autonomous 50 years ago did not even have a proper head. Some deputy remained in-charge.
I agree with the writer that if the data is to be believed then Pakistan has done better than all the Asian countries put together. They took at least four decades of steady non-inflationary growth to get poverty where it is today.
Meekal Ahmed
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2011.
