|
Pakistan's weakening rupee, rising inflation and fast growing international trade deficit are evidence of an economy that is in deep trouble.
And on Monday, Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister and a key leader of the new ruling coalition, raised the stakes when he ordered ministers from his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to resign from the cabinet.
The latest developments in Pakistan have nothing to do with the economy. The discord over the judges is an outcome of weeks of friction between the PML-Q and the Pakistan People's Party, which is the leading party in the coalition.
Sharif pulled out from the cabinet after the PPP failed to agree on restoring the judges, including Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, former chief justice of the supreme court. For Sharif, this could have been done simply through an executive order from the prime minister.
While the political shenanigans continue in Pakistan, the economy is in danger of suffering further. The rupee has devalued by just below 10 per cent since the beginning of this year. On Monday, the State Bank of Pakistan, tried to calm what appeared to be an unsettled market, and helped prevent a further slide of the rupee.
But the latest figures that day also brought ahead a troubling picture of inflation still rising rapidly while other key economic indicators remain out of control. As Pakistan goes forward, the stability of the country will depend in part on its ability to tackle such mounting economic issues.
Action needs to be taken in areas ranging from settling the equity and the current markets to improving agricultural yields. The ultimate outcome of such a broad range of initiatives has to be measured by way of taking charge of some of the most difficult issues at the popular level.
The more politicians like Sharif press themselves on issues of high politics, which appear to be meant to consolidate their own position in the ruling party structure, the more they will find themselves detached from popular opinion.
Dismay
Already, many Pakistanis are dismayed over the failure of the new government to begin tackling important issues that are central to the lives of people, such as mounting inflation and rising cost living in key areas.
Without tackling such issues of vital significance to ordinary Pakistanis, it is impossible to imagine how their appreciation of the economic picture will improve significantly.
In the immediate future, the new government needs to concentrate on two inter related areas. On the one hand, restoring the regime of price controls by the government is essential to winning back the confidence of the people.
Many Pakistanis have seen the government's role increasingly falter over the years, on issues tied to controlling prices of food items. In contrast to the era when magistrates ensured checks on prices and quality of food items, there is no such regime today.
On the other hand, it is equally vital for the government to win back the confidence of investors. Ishaq Dar, the finance minister from Sharif's party, who resigned on Tuesday, to his extreme discredit, had quickly acquired for himself the reputation of being the messenger of doom and gloom.
Driven by Sharif's penchant to denounce the economic success under Musharraf's rule before the new government came to office, Dar spent much time in putting across the many bits disconcerting news on the economic front.
As a result, rather than helping to stabilise the markets, Dar's public posture had a completely opposite effect. If any, the one lesson for the new government must be that it has to lift confidence rather than lose it.
The writer is a journalist based in Pakistan.
|
