Daily Times

With the stock exchange continuing its bullish momentum, the state celebrating consistent surpluses in the current account, steady foreign reserves and signs of inflation returning from backbreaking levels, the multi-million dollar lingering on every reasonable mind asks about how durable would this fresh out-of-the-mint stability be.

Every day in his office heading a country, that was only months ago, inches close to falling off the cliff, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has a particularly hard job at hand; something made clear to him by a group of business leaders gathered in Karachi. That his ambitious plan to “double exports and reduce business costs” could be appreciated as a well-thought-of gesture but something literally impossible in the given scenarios was presented as the crux of their reservations.

As gas tariffs keep creeping higher and higher, the business community’s apprehensions about their survival in the international market are well-founded. Aiming for the skies can only begin to make sense if one’s foundation is built to last. Because the calm in the economic numbers is bound to end one day, the industrial base does not wish to be swept away by pledges alone. They demand a concrete, quantifiable line of action that prioritises linkages over politically-motivated policies.

May it be trade with India or spelling an end to internal instability due to furious opposition, a community which has repeatedly held pompoms for PML(N) appears in a pensive mood today. The onus now lies on Mr Sharif. Would he ask his cabinet to come up with a well-thought-out plan that plugs the gaping holes and enthuses a new wave of confidence in the country’s greatest economic asset? Or the shenanigans of the past where hollow platitudes served to drag the proverbial can further down the road remain the highlight of his tenure?

From asking for support from local leaders to ensuring foreign investment, everything requires Pakistan to carry out long-pending structural reforms to stabilize its economy. *