Seeds of discontent

All we have gotten from the govt so far are announcements of ambitious and rather impractical initiatives

It really is about time the government came out with a clear strategy for creating employment and stimulating growth in the country. While a few may be able to appreciate how necessary efforts to consolidate Pakistan’s economy are – given the sordid state the successive shortsighted policies have left it in – the ruling party’s campaign promise of reducing poverty and inequality seems more far-fetched day by day.

Already, the government’s stringent ‘belt-tightening’ policy has had the unintended effect of shrinking the country’s job market. Faced with reduced economic power, the private sector has responded by slashing both jobs and salaries for those lucky enough to still be employed. Rising inflation has, on the other hand, reduced people’s purchasing power, creating what threatens to be a negative growth spiral.

For the common Pakistani, a recent report by a UK-based international human resource consultancy firm paints an even bleaker picture for next year. According to ECA International, unchecked inflation and rupee depreciation will result in a further decline in Pakistani workers’ real salaries in 2020. Depressingly, it points out that Pakistan will be the only country in the Asia-Pacific to see this decline – every other country in the region is set to witness a real salary increase more than double the global average.

What is discomforting is that so far, there has been no attempt by the government to articulate a vision to reverse this trend and to create more employment. All we have gotten so far are announcements of ambitious and rather impractical initiatives that one can only hope are not dead on arrival. The very least the government can do is make some practical promises. The country’s present trajectory will only lead to more public discontent. Given that the ruling party has encountered rough seas in its first year, one can only wonder how much pressure it will be able to sustain.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2019.

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