Pakistan is trapped in a vicious cycle of high inflation and low growth, perpetuating structural unemployment and a persistent poverty trap. The current economic landscape highlights the impact of the global commodity super-cycle and an unfavourable geo-political climate. These barricades, coupled with an underutilized labour force, cripple Pakistan’s competitive tendencies in the global market. Beyond technological lag, the country faces widening social disparities given the limited fiscal space and foreign exchange earnings.
Pakistan’s economic journey has seen drastic shifts from a stable to a strong economy and from the brink of default to development. Despite multiple opportunities, the momentum was derailed repeatedly by successive challenges like wars, political instability, and regime changes. After facing setbacks multiple times, it now stands at a watershed moment, one that could redefine its trajectory.
It is the time to retake flight by reigniting the vision of ‘Dream Pakistan’, a theme central to the Independence Movement, but now with a far greater likelihood of becoming a reality with an economic recovery roadmap. The Turnaround Pakistan 2022 was convened under the rallying cry, ‘Let’s Rise Again!’ with seven marked areas ranging from human capital development to regional connectivity outlining the national development priorities.
Uraan Pakistan, a visionary blueprint set on measurable outcomes, represents the National Economic Transformational Plan and claims to be the foundational step for reshaping the economy and achieving concerted, sustainable growth. It is an indigenous, homegrown model of development, a truly ‘Pakistani model’, promising to usher in a golden era for the manufacturing, agriculture, and services sectors by improving the productivity of resources. This growth trajectory aims to propel the country’s GDP from USD 374 billion to USD 1 trillion by 2035. Such transformative progress will position Pakistan to secure Upper Middle-Income status in the next decade.
The government is undoubtedly grappling with both internal and external challenges to practically embrace the 5 Es framework. It is not only the political instability and policy incontinuation, but also climate change and global financial and energy crisis that is hindering the government to achieve its desired socio-economic state. Ensuring balanced growth remains unattainable unless the existing regional and social inequalities are adequately addressed.
Pakistan’s economic journey has seen drastic shifts from a stable to a strong economy and from the brink of default to development.
To meet these challenges, a development-centric framework has been opted to shift the reactive, short-term approach to a proactive, long-term strategic response. It also called for a collaborative and participatory national planning process that is both market-driven and people-oriented to combat these footraces in progress. Plans that fail to provide equitable opportunities or neglect the private sector are less likely to succeed. Uraan Pakistan not only addresses these two indicators of success but also prioritizes citizen empowerment and work for the nation’s aspirations, with the role of government as a mere performance-driven service provider. The ripple effects of it will bring upward mobility for the citizens, investors, and businesses alike, creating a more prosperous society.
To some, Uraan Pakistan may appear overly ambitious, but in reality, it is a rapid growth model designed to stabilize the economy on an urgent basis to position the nation to outpace its neighbor by its 100th birthday. At this inflection point, the usual business will not generate the required growth trajectory. Despite innumerable roadblocks, the plan has already practical macroeconomic milestones such as averting a default-like situation by successfully completing the IMF-SBA program. Notable successes include recording the first quarterly fiscal surplus of Rs. 1.7 trillion in 2 years, turning the industrial value positive, reducing inflation to 7% after 35 months, achieving an 11.5% GDP growth rate, and increasing remittances by 40-44% from July 2024 to August 2024, alongside a primary surplus of Rs. 3 trillion. Additionally, the stabilization of the exchange rate, strengthened economic ties with allies, robustness in the stock market, and growing forex reserves are all tangible results of the consistent reforms implemented under this plan driving sustainable economic progress.
The National Economic Transformation Unit (NETU) has been established to recalibrate strategies and track key performance indicators through a results-oriented management system. To ensure coherence in the plan, stakeholders from all factions of society are actively engaged. The private sector is encouraged to invest in innovation, media in advocacy, and academia in research and development. NETU is partnered with the Pakistan Centennial 2047 Lab for collaboration and innovation to drive the nation toward its long-term goals.a
This reformation plan is designed to give a boost to the fragile economy of the state by identifying the challenges and implementing deliberate solutions. Just as a bird can only fly when all its wings work in unison, a nation can only prosper when its people stand together. This is a national plan calling for the national commitment of the entire nation. This time, all political parties are aligned on the same page, making it a perfect moment to unite and work toward a shared vision. Success is inevitable because the pilot, co-pilot, and the entire cabin crew are now in sync. There are no individual identities here, only a collective identity. We possess the stamina to regrow from the ground up, we are a resilient nation. We are Pakistani first and Pakistani last!
The writer is serving in the Development Communication Department at the Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives. She can be reached at aroojsaghir. [email protected]