Economic reforms in Pakistan
ECONOMIC REFORMS IN PAKISTAN
There is a widely shared consensus about the nature of reforms that Pakistan should embark upon. This consists of two components – stabilization and long term structural reforms. Under the first component the economy has to be stabilized with the help of fiscal consolidation, widening of tax net and mobilization of domestic resources, cutting down the losses of state owned corporations, curtailing wasteful development expenditure and assigning priority to removing supply-side bottlenecks such as energy and infrastructure, keeping inflation under control and maintaining exchange rate stability. The second component requires governance reforms in the structure, processes and human resource policies of the Federal , Provincial and Local governments, taxation and tariff reforms, removing microeconomic distortions such as issuing selective Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) for specific firms, liberalizing and deregulating goods and factor markets, strengthening regulatory architecture, promoting market competitive forces and building human capital particularly in science and technology.
THE RECORD 1947-2012
Last five decades have witnessed a remarkable change in the economic fortunes of various countries and continents. The poor, underdeveloped, developing and emerging countries that account for two-fifth of the world population have, by and large, undergone structural transformation of the magnitude that is unprecedented and was not anticipated. The economic power equilibrium is gradually shifting from the advanced countries to developing, countries. The distinction between advanced and developing, North and South, First World and Third World is becoming redundant and irrelevant. For the first time since cross-country data on poverty is being compiled all the six continents have recorded a decline in the incidence of poverty. The Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty by one half has been achieved five years ahead of 2015.
There is a widely shared consensus about the nature of reforms that Pakistan should embark upon. This consists of two components – stabilization and long term structural reforms. Under the first component the economy has to be stabilized with the help of fiscal consolidation, widening of tax net and mobilization of domestic resources, cutting down the losses of state owned corporations, curtailing wasteful development expenditure and assigning priority to removing supply-side bottlenecks such as energy and infrastructure, keeping inflation under control and maintaining exchange rate stability. The second component requires governance reforms in the structure, processes and human resource policies of the Federal , Provincial and Local governments, taxation and tariff reforms, removing microeconomic distortions such as issuing selective Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) for specific firms, liberalizing and deregulating goods and factor markets, strengthening regulatory architecture, promoting market competitive forces and building human capital particularly in science and technology.
THE RECORD 1947-2012
Last five decades have witnessed a remarkable change in the economic fortunes of various countries and continents. The poor, underdeveloped, developing and emerging countries that account for two-fifth of the world population have, by and large, undergone structural transformation of the magnitude that is unprecedented and was not anticipated. The economic power equilibrium is gradually shifting from the advanced countries to developing, countries. The distinction between advanced and developing, North and South, First World and Third World is becoming redundant and irrelevant. For the first time since cross-country data on poverty is being compiled all the six continents have recorded a decline in the incidence of poverty. The Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty by one half has been achieved five years ahead of 2015.