Pakistan is a country that enjoys great strategic position in South Asia. It has vast natural resources to feed its people, reform their living standards and transform the education system in order to bring sustainable developments to keep it growing in the globalised world.
Further, economic infrastructure is the backbone that guarantees provision of general services to masses and generation revenues contributing to its GDP as well future plans. But in the case of Pakistan, the situation is dark and grim because it is facing multiple challenges and people can hardly enjoy their socio-economic rights. Hence, boosting the GDP is extremely indispensable for ensuring equality, empowering women, education youth and transforming future generation.
Moreover, GDP growth up to great extent can only be achieves by increasing consumption rate, ensuring equilibrium and implementing policies shaped by the EAC. For instance, the GDP could not flourish beyond the ranges of 4.98 percent to 5.79 percent in decades.
The underlying causes behind low GDP can be attributed to poor governance structure, political instability, high inflation and food prices, excessive materialistic desires, widening the gap between the haves and have-nots and poor standard of education. In this pitiable state of affairs, the needy are sidelined, the poor ignored and the affluent are bestowed. How can a layman contribute to socio-economic development, when his voice is ignored and rights are violated with impunity.
In the same context, it can be easily argued that provision of eatable commodities at affordable prices would increase GDP. Further, burdens such as high inflation, soaring fuel prices and hefty fees of educational institutes are adversely impacting our GDP and overall economic performance. Further, GDP mainly comprises of private consumption expenditure, investment expenditure, government purchases of goods and services, Net exports as well proper utilization of capital. Unfortunately, in the case of Pakistan, burgeoning cases of corruption such as London flats scandal, Malik Riaz business deal and Ashianafield land scam are tantamount to progressive future economic planning. The need of an hour is to get rid our nation of bribery and mismanagement of resources.
According to IMF first Post-program monitoring report, Pakistan’s near-term outlook for economic growth is broadly favourable. Real GDP is expected to grow by 5.6 percent in FY 2017/18, supported by improved power supply, investment related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), strong consumption growth, and ongoing recovery in agriculture. In this situation, it can be substantiated from the above discussion that politically charges speeches, bold promises and pledges by governance apparatus can never come up to expectations of general masses.
The need of an hour is to get rid our nation of bribery and mismanagement of resources
To make matters better, the finance ministry should go for annual plans instead of five year planning mechanism. In addition, one year economic planning would be favourable for educationists, economists, and researchers to contemplate on key issues and tackle them on an urgent basis. In this kind of strategy, the prime onus of EAC to incorporate simplicity, moderation, prudent debt reduction, management and water conservation in its top agenda.
On the other side, our education sector that is yet another muscle of our economy, suffers from multiple crises. For example, teachers’ absenteeism, low wages of private teachers’, poor budgetary allocations, dilapidated infrastructure and fees hikesare threatening the future of our new generation. According to statistics more than 22.6 million are enlisted in the category of drop-of-out children. The need of an hour is to revamp education system because teachers are our real asset and valuing them would guaranteeour survival in the globalised world. Moreover, revamp of secondary and higher education only be realized by providing basic facilities and quality education. In the light of above arguments, reforming education sector would really enhance our economic climatic conditions and elimination of unemployment may be realized on practical grounds.
Putting these measures on real grounds would increase our GDP up to 7.1 percent in the FY 2018-19. Most importantly, GDP growth is interlinked with increased consumption, proper demand and supply of goods and services, efficient utilization of capital and ensuring prudent policies of debt management. Moreover, improved consumption can be achieved by bringing down prices of eatable commodities and strictly tackling issues of black-marketing and extra-profiteering. In fact, the goals of new PTI-led government regarding poverty alleviating, elimination of stunted growth, revenue generation are crucial for overall economic performance, if achieved.
Moreover there is a saying “sweet are the uses of adversity”. The maxim defines the general truth the harder you work the more fruitful would be its results. The first area that needs serious attention is handling circular debt by making recoveries because it stands today at $922 million. The other initiatives include, efficient performance of the EAC, controlling theft of electricity, minimizing inflation and ensuring accountability for eradication of corruption from our society. Further, policy-making officials should be provided congenial environment, so that prosperity and positive developments may be realized.
Conclusively, instead of tarnishing the image of institutions for their past failures, new hopes should emerge from effective policy-making mechanism and maintaining culture of accountability.
The author is a freelance writer based in Hyderabad
Published in Daily Times, October 29th 2018.