Pakistan: An Economy in the Making
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67 years ago Pakistan gained independence from British rule. At the time, the country found itself dependent on agriculture and were economically poor. In the first fifty years, Pakistan picked itself up, but nonetheless Pakistan still has a long way to go. War, lack of social stability, in-house political clashes, and lack of population control, has set the country back in terms of growth and development.
67 years ago Pakistan gained independence from British rule. At the time, the country found itself dependent on agriculture and were economically poor. In the first fifty years, Pakistan picked itself up, but nonetheless Pakistan still has a long way to go. War, lack of social stability, in-house political clashes, and lack of population control, has set the country back in terms of growth and development.
As per the latest reports, Pakistan’s economy is undergoing a revamp to remove controls to promote and encourage development. The process, popularly known as Economic Liberalization, aims to draw in foreign investment. The financial network of the country is controlled by the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE), Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE), and Sialkot Trading Floor. The currency is governed by the State Bank of Pakistan. The economy is controlled by chemicals, fertilizers, cement, textiles, mining and cash crops such as rice, wheat, sugar, and salt.
Table of Contents
The Stock Market
The stock market opened has enough financial reserves in terms of foreign currency. According to a leading financial analysis firm, Pakistan will soon be stable. The ISE and LSE recorded a high reading at the beginning of this week. Of the 133 companies, share prices increased for 108 companies and reduced for only 25.
Fuel & Energy
The Economic Coordination Committee and the Finance Ministry has sanctioned a fund of Rs 17 billion for the construction of a 500kV transmission line. The Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Resources has also come into an agreement with Qatar for the importation of LNG. The government has consistently shown that it is willing to tackle the deficiencies in electrical power generation caused due to irregularities in control over the past decade.
Industrial Sector
The industrial backbone of Pakistan is cotton, agriculture, chemicals, and fertilizers. Recently, it came to light that the PCGA (Pakistan Cotton Ginners’ Association) has expressed concern that Pakistan is importing cotton from other countries despite being a cotton producing country itself. The association has urged the government to consider supporting the prices of raw cotton.
The agricultural sector of Pakistan relies heavily on seasonal rains and the Indus River for irrigational purposes. Low scattered rains this year has become a cause of worry for farmers, especially since the country’s major source of income is cash crops. The Pakistani government has initiated a National Food Security Council to promote reasonable agriculture so as to generate maximum gain. The Prime Minister, in regards to this issue, has stated that: “The council will be aiming at ensuring policy coordination across provinces, agriculture, and livestock productivity improvements, market reforms, value addition, and prices for ensuring stable incomes for the farmers.”
Security and Self-Defense
The Pakistan defensive forces are the seventh largest in the world in terms of actively employed people. During the last 3 decades, the budget allocation for defense services has grown by 200%. This is due to larger countries sharing borders with Pakistan, apart from security and maintenance to law & order. This budget has been increased by about 10% in the last fiscal year alone. Their reputation took a huge hit when America killed and captured Osama bin Laden on their own soil because this showed the world that this violent terrorist was actually living and thriving on Pakistani soil.
Despite conflict from politicians, military officers have maintained that the military’s budget of Pakistan is the lowest in the region. Upon the latest directives from the UN, the Pakistan Armed forces are actively involved in peace keeping operations and checking the insurgency at the Afghanistan border. Pakistan has also emerged, in the late 20th century, into a nuclear power and states that its nuclear arms policy is solely to discourage attack.
Pakistan’s Economic Outlook
Pakistan may be a couple right moves but they have some serious issues they have to overcome. They have a radical Islamic sect that does not care about how well the economy performs; they just want to cause problems with India and the west. The corruption in the government is troubling which does not bode well for Pakistan companies to have the ability to expand and are afraid to take any risk. If Pakistan does not confront its radical elements, it will not keep pace with its rival India and not even other energy rich Islamic nations such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
