‘Economic future inseparable from energy crisis’
American experts believe policies must be corrected to bring economic prosperity.
KARACHI:
The economic future of Pakistan will not be secure unless the people’s energy needs are addressed, American experts believe.
“The economic future is inseparable from the energy situation,” said Toby Dalton, who is the deputy director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a foreign policy think tank based in Washington, DC.
Addressing a roundtable discussion on the future of Pakistan and the international community at the Marriot hotel on Monday, Dalton went on to add that key international players were aware of the crises in the country, such as load-shedding and gas shortages despite the country being rich in natural resources.
Speaking on the topic of circular debt, Dalton said one of the most common solutions suggested was that the international community should help Pakistan by paying it off. However, Dalton was not of the same mind and believed that the problem wouldn’t go away with such a temporary solution. Instead, he believed that what needed to be addressed were the ‘wrong’ policies in place.
“Even if the international community pays off the circular debt, the problem will surely recur unless you have a better policy in place,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2012.
The economic future of Pakistan will not be secure unless the people’s energy needs are addressed, American experts believe.
“The economic future is inseparable from the energy situation,” said Toby Dalton, who is the deputy director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a foreign policy think tank based in Washington, DC.
Addressing a roundtable discussion on the future of Pakistan and the international community at the Marriot hotel on Monday, Dalton went on to add that key international players were aware of the crises in the country, such as load-shedding and gas shortages despite the country being rich in natural resources.
Speaking on the topic of circular debt, Dalton said one of the most common solutions suggested was that the international community should help Pakistan by paying it off. However, Dalton was not of the same mind and believed that the problem wouldn’t go away with such a temporary solution. Instead, he believed that what needed to be addressed were the ‘wrong’ policies in place.
“Even if the international community pays off the circular debt, the problem will surely recur unless you have a better policy in place,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2012.