Daily Times

Even though I’m not an expert in economics, I’d like to give a brief plan on how to curtail our current account deficit.As you know Pakistan’s trade deficit is a booming 33 billion dollars. And it’s very important that we curb it. Even though I’m not a fan of protectionism, I’d like to suggest banning the import of all non-essential items for a period of two years. Things like luxury cars for example Mercedes and BMWs etc, refurbished cars that we buy from Japan; that cost us a whopping five billion dollars annually. I recently saw water being imported from UAE and things like cheese which only the top one percent uses.

Moreover we should also put a tab on the amount of fuel we import and rationalize the use of petrol. We import around about 13 billion dollars’ worth of crude oil. While we do need crude oil to increase our industrial output; we should look at the possibilities of imposing an upper limit on the amount of crude oil we import. Moreover better management of the oil supply chain should ensure smooth operations. In the future we should also look towards hydro, solar and wind energy for the production of electricity, instead of expensive non-renewable resources that continue to harm our environment. Also if we encourage expatriates to send foreign remittance through official banking channels; it would help in easing the shortage of dollars and increasingly high exchange rates.

While these measures might not stop us from going to the IMF, but they will most likely help us to some extent in curtailing the current account deficit. In the long term our economy needs measured reforms in assets such as land. Through land reforms, we can break feudal hegemonies on large tracts of land, and give the land to the peasant who tills it, and is the rightful owner of it.

Despite having such a cow about cows, India exports more halal meat to the United Arab Emirates than we do. If we target such markets — we can slowly but surely reduce the burden of our debts

Moreover this will increase our agricultural output and decrease prices. Similarly Pakistan is world renowned for the exemplary quality of its fruits, in order to improve our export to import ratio; we must expand this sector. Processing plants should be set up in areas where fruits are grown, and directly sent for exportation. This will not only provide easy method of transportation for fresh produce, but help us maintain international standards as well. Our dairy sector also has great potential, which can be explored under the economic leadership of Asad Umer, the former CEO of Engro Food. If we have companies who maintain a separate standard and are export only; they might help alleviate our trade deficits. Infact this could be a game changer for us- just take the example of India despite being a Hindu state exports more halal meat to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) than we do. If we target such markets- we can slowly but surely reduce the burden of our debts.

Pakistan should also increase its productivity by investing in vocational training institutions. If we can build one such institute in each of our twenty-five administrative divisions; then not only will the number of skilled labourers increase, but this would help eradicate unemployment exponentially. In fact one of the reasons that Germany has such a low youth unemployment rate is due to their focus on vocational and technical training facilities.

The only thing Pakistan- such a rich and untapped treasure — lacks in becoming a thriving economy is visionary leadership. I hope Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)’s tenure in Pakistan helps it transition smoothly into a stable economy. Insh’Allah.

The writer is a freelance columnist and he can be reached at areeb.ahmed44@yahoo.com>

Published in Daily Times, August 13^th 2018.