‘Sustainable growth a must for addressing economic woes’

PIDE official says political stability critical for consistency in policies

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan’s only way out of the current economic turmoil has to be sustained and accelerated growth which cannot be achieved without a complete reset of the fundamentals of governance systems and markets.

These remarks were expressed by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Vice Chancellor Dr Nadeemul Haque while talking to a group of senior journalists in Islamabad.

Dr Haque, who is a former deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and a renowned economist, went on to add that the focus, thus, has to be long-term, as shortterm quick fixes have not worked, and it must start from somewhere.

PIDE being the nation’s premier think-tank, amid continuous calls for the Charter of Economy by different segments of the society as well as political leadership, has presented its "Charter of Economy.”

The country’s economic indicators throughout its entire history have fluctuated widely without a clear and sustainable growth trajectory. Despite experiencing extreme economic and political experimentation, the country fails to get on the road to development.

All thanks to the myopic approach. Dr Haque said: “In this context, a political consensus in Pakistan is critical because implementing any new rules of the game in letter and spirit seems highly unlikely without a broad-based political consensus. First and foremost, the pre-requisite must be policy consistency for at least the next 15 years.

Once there is a political consensus, there should be no off-tracking from the set direction, whatever the case may be.” According to a press statement issued from the PIDE office, Dr Haque further said that through this document, PIDE brings to the spotlight the real issues that matter, hitting right at the core, in an attempt to set the fundamentals right.

The Charter has been divided into six broad themes that include: Governance for the 21st Century, Sludge and Deregulation, Economic Policy Focus, Developing Markets, 3Ts (Trade, Tariff, and Taxation) and Modernisation.