Pakistan’s strong economic performance? Questionable

[GlobalVillageSpace]

Pakistan’s strong economic performance? Questionable
Global Village Space |

Michael Kugelman|

Recent months have seen a proliferation of Western media commentary attesting to Pakistan’s strong economic performance.

Factors of economic development
Tyler Cowan declared Pakistan’s economy to be the most underrated in the world.

Bloomberg columnist and economist Tyler Cowan, citing a range of factors from a strong stock market to a booming retail sector, declared Pakistan’s economy to be the most underrated in the world. The Wall Street Journal credited a growing middle class for fueling economic growth. Even back in 2015, Forbes contributor Daniel Runde, pointing to reduced instability and promising economic reforms, was predicting that Pakistan could become ‘the next Colombia’.

Very real progress
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced achievements galore: 4.7% GDP growth, an average inflation rate of less than 3%, and foreign exchange reserves of nearly $US22 billion

There has indeed been very real progress. Last June, when Finance Minister Ishaq Dar unveiled the budget for Pakistan’s new fiscal year (which runs from July through June), he announced achievements galore: 4.7% GDP growth, the highest in eight years; an average inflation rate of less than 3%, the lowest in a decade; and foreign exchange reserves of nearly $US22 billion, a new national record. Additionally, last year the investment analysis firm MSCI, citing improvements in transparency and liquidity, upgraded Pakistan’s market status from frontier to emerging, a reclassification that could increase foreign investment inflows.

Read more: Why Pakistan’s finance minister is misleading country on debt figures

Economic triumphs
Pakistan is regarded as an Asian troublemaker, not an Asian tiger, thanks to its well-chronicled struggles with poverty and terrorism.

These economic triumphs are remarkable for a nation long regarded as an Asian troublemaker, not an Asian tiger, thanks to its well-chronicled struggles with poverty and terrorism. In Washington these days, Pakistani diplomats happily hand over meticulously prepared dossiers, replete with snazzy spreadsheets and statistics, to disabuse anyone of the notion that their country isn’t economically ascendant.

The more sobering side to this story.
First, Pakistan has crippling energy and water shortages. Electricity deficits have compelled scores of factories, including those dealing with textiles – one of Pakistan’s largest exports – to shut down. Meanwhile, water shortages pose big problems for agriculture, which consumes more than 90% of Pakistan’s water and employs more workers than any other sector in the country. Water woes have prompted many farmers to seek new livelihoods in cities already struggling to provide jobs for their swelling populations.

Read more: Reality of Pakistan’s Economic Situation is hitting home

Poor export performance
In the first eight months of Pakistan’s current fiscal year, exports fell by 12% when compared to the same period the year before.

Pakistan’s export performance is poor. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, exports fell by 12% when compared to the same period the year before. Pakistani government assessments attribute the slide to economic slowdowns in China and the EU – both key export markets for Pakistan – and low levels of investment in export sectors. However, the chief explanation for Pakistan’s sluggish exports is the same it has been the same for decades: the country’s export mix lacks diversity.

Pakistan has some high-growth industries, including an impressive IT sector that sends 10,000 graduates into the market each year

While many developing economies in Asia have gradually embraced the services sector and gravitated away from traditional manufacturing, Pakistan has stuck to low-value-add textiles. It has some high-growth industries, including an impressive IT sector that sends 10,000 graduates into the market each year, but textiles – that face stiff competition from those produced by China, India, and Bangladesh – still account for the bulk of Pakistan’s exports.

CPEC’s long-term risks
Islamabad has put most of its economic eggs into the CPEC basket, banking on the mega project’s potential to bring more roads, energy security, and connectivity to a nation that badly needs these things

Read full article:
Pakistan’s strong economic performance? Questionable

 

[Aasimkhan]

Things are not as bad as being painted in this article, yes there is stagnation in production and exports, but electricity problem will be solved soon. activity picking up. Cement and iron sales up

 

[RoadRunner401]

Things are not as bad as being painted in this article, yes there is stagnation in production and exports, but electricity problem will be solved soon. activity picking up. Cement and iron sales up

That's because this guy Michael Kugelman is not qualified in this field and looks like his only job is to paint Pakistan bad and spread propaganda @GlobalVillageSpace job to start anti-Pakistan, threads.

Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. His main specialty is Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and U.S. relations with each of them.

 

[My-Analogous]

Pakistan’s strong economic performance? Questionable
Global Village Space |

Michael Kugelman|

Recent months have seen a proliferation of Western media commentary attesting to Pakistan’s strong economic performance.

Factors of economic development
Tyler Cowan declared Pakistan’s economy to be the most underrated in the world.

Bloomberg columnist and economist Tyler Cowan, citing a range of factors from a strong stock market to a booming retail sector, declared Pakistan’s economy to be the most underrated in the world. The Wall Street Journal credited a growing middle class for fueling economic growth. Even back in 2015, Forbes contributor Daniel Runde, pointing to reduced instability and promising economic reforms, was predicting that Pakistan could become ‘the next Colombia’.

Very real progress
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced achievements galore: 4.7% GDP growth, an average inflation rate of less than 3%, and foreign exchange reserves of nearly $US22 billion

There has indeed been very real progress. Last June, when Finance Minister Ishaq Dar unveiled the budget for Pakistan’s new fiscal year (which runs from July through June), he announced achievements galore: 4.7% GDP growth, the highest in eight years; an average inflation rate of less than 3%, the lowest in a decade; and foreign exchange reserves of nearly $US22 billion, a new national record. Additionally, last year the investment analysis firm MSCI, citing improvements in transparency and liquidity, upgraded Pakistan’s market status from frontier to emerging, a reclassification that could increase foreign investment inflows.

Read more: Why Pakistan’s finance minister is misleading country on debt figures

Economic triumphs
Pakistan is regarded as an Asian troublemaker, not an Asian tiger, thanks to its well-chronicled struggles with poverty and terrorism.

These economic triumphs are remarkable for a nation long regarded as an Asian troublemaker, not an Asian tiger, thanks to its well-chronicled struggles with poverty and terrorism. In Washington these days, Pakistani diplomats happily hand over meticulously prepared dossiers, replete with snazzy spreadsheets and statistics, to disabuse anyone of the notion that their country isn’t economically ascendant.

The more sobering side to this story.
First, Pakistan has crippling energy and water shortages. Electricity deficits have compelled scores of factories, including those dealing with textiles – one of Pakistan’s largest exports – to shut down. Meanwhile, water shortages pose big problems for agriculture, which consumes more than 90% of Pakistan’s water and employs more workers than any other sector in the country. Water woes have prompted many farmers to seek new livelihoods in cities already struggling to provide jobs for their swelling populations.

Read more: Reality of Pakistan’s Economic Situation is hitting home

Poor export performance
In the first eight months of Pakistan’s current fiscal year, exports fell by 12% when compared to the same period the year before.

Pakistan’s export performance is poor. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, exports fell by 12% when compared to the same period the year before. Pakistani government assessments attribute the slide to economic slowdowns in China and the EU – both key export markets for Pakistan – and low levels of investment in export sectors. However, the chief explanation for Pakistan’s sluggish exports is the same it has been the same for decades: the country’s export mix lacks diversity.

Pakistan has some high-growth industries, including an impressive IT sector that sends 10,000 graduates into the market each year

While many developing economies in Asia have gradually embraced the services sector and gravitated away from traditional manufacturing, Pakistan has stuck to low-value-add textiles. It has some high-growth industries, including an impressive IT sector that sends 10,000 graduates into the market each year, but textiles – that face stiff competition from those produced by China, India, and Bangladesh – still account for the bulk of Pakistan’s exports.

CPEC’s long-term risks
Islamabad has put most of its economic eggs into the CPEC basket, banking on the mega project’s potential to bring more roads, energy security, and connectivity to a nation that badly needs these things

Read full article:
Pakistan’s strong economic performance? Questionable

Thanks to PPP last Government, nothing left for bad in Pakistani economy, that was the phase where everyone confirmed that now nothing left to damage our economy. They are now trying to get that seat 2nd time after bibi. As we all know how Sindhi things works in Sindh. No matter how many children dead, how many woman rape, no school, no collage but vote is for PPPP Wadarahs

 

[ziaulislam]

its unfair to blame PPPP for everything especially when i dont see any major reforms in this government, yes there performance has been better than PPPP but not stellar
major challenges still not addressed during this govt and much hype we see is a asian trend due to low oil prices

1. load shedding, still an issue and it seems unlikely now that it would be addressed before 2020 if distribution companies concerns are true
2. exports, will continue to go down due to load shedding, lack of gas, lack of water security, lack of fertilizers, good quality seed and poor regulation, lack of tax rebate, low liquidity and high coperate taxation and lack of diversification.. list is long and can be seen in every WB, AB , IMF report and is being continuously ignored by the govt due to geo poltical reasons
3. lack of investment in education and health which normally contributes to 10-20% of any economy, it seems that a complete generation might go un educated, the emergency action plan of 176 billion at begining of PML N govt turn out to be nothing but political scam

 

[Chak Bamu]

its unfair to blame PPPP for everything especially when i dont see any major reforms in this government, yes there performance has been better than PPPP but not stellar
major challenges still not addressed during this govt and much hype we see is a asian trend due to low oil prices

1. load shedding, still an issue and it seems unlikely now that it would be addressed before 2020 if distribution companies concerns are true
2. exports, will continue to go down due to load shedding, lack of gas, lack of water security, lack of fertilizers, good quality seed and poor regulation, lack of tax rebate, low liquidity and high coperate taxation and lack of diversification.. list is long and can be seen in every WB, AB , IMF report and is being continuously ignored by the govt due to geo poltical reasons
3. lack of investment in education and health which normally contributes to 10-20% of any economy, it seems that a complete generation might go un educated, the emergency action plan of 176 billion at begining of PML N govt turn out to be nothing but political scam

My concerns exactly. Thank you for putting it like it is.

Pakistan, unfortunately, due to its unique internal power dynamics is not made for bold & courageous decisions. There are so many competing interests that even a majority government finds tough to enact reforms. For example, what keeps any government from getting rid of loss-making State-Owned Enterprises like Pakistan Steel Mills? Or what keeps any government from building infrastructure projects like Kalabagh dam on merit alone? Fixing the slide in Exports is not that difficult, but why can Pakistan not seem to do it? All these issues are related to competing interests in a complicated multi-ethnic struggling democracy.

I am ever an optimist, but I do not see any government in near future managing the guts to take tough and bold decisions. Deciding to build metros and motorways on borrowed money is easy. Addressing structural deficiencies is hard. In this dialectic one can see PML-N's operative strategy. It is not sustainable in the long run. What we have seen in the past 4 years is merely an attempt to put patches here and there.

 

[Usamafarooqi99]

The best solution solution is kick the corrupt leaders and make sensible leaders... believe me we will one of the superpowers In few years

 

[Fledgingwings]

Pakistan Sirf Allah Ke Chalane se Chal Raha hai Bhai.

 

[Chak Bamu]

The best solution solution is kick the corrupt leaders and make sensible leaders... believe me we will one of the superpowers In few years

I think someone should kick you to knock some sense in your head so that you learn to make reasoned and logical posts.

 

[Usamafarooqi99]

I think someone should kick you to knock some sense in your head so that you learn to make reasoned and logical posts.

Broo! im in china and enjoying a happy life..
i just want to ask you a question that would you like that your next generation suffer bad days and all their right r been taken by corrupt leaders then knock or kick urself i dont care
behind every statement their is reason so learn to respect other thoughts especially for one who is in your favour

Broo! im in china and enjoying a happy life..
i just want to ask you a question that would you like that your next generation suffer bad days and all their right r been taken by corrupt leaders then knock or kick urself i dont care
behind every statement their is reason so learn to respect other thoughts especially for one who is in your favour

• I don't support any political party, but if we simply just look at the facts, yes the economy today is growing thanks mainly to the China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor (CPEC). The main question that arises is if the country is growing at its full potential pace? In my opinion, I believe that the economy could grow faster if the federal government wasn't busy putting the majority of the foreign aid and investments into thier own pockets. The strategy of the Pakistan-Muslim-League-Noon Party (PMLN) is based on pure corruption. The PMLN has looted the country countless of times and has used that in their lies they publish in commercials and banners before every election. They use the money they have looted for their political campaign ads and commercials. Their main slogan is that they have built many things for Pakistan in the past. The truth is that they haven't really built anything! CPEC was started by the Pakistan Army negotiations with China during the time of Field Marshal Ayub Khan back in the late 1950's. Eventually thanks to the efforts of the Army Corp of Engineers and Chinese laborers, the country had built the great Karakorum Highway by 1979 with the Army’s Frontier Works Organization. CPEC was further implemented by the Army’s efforts under General Pervez Musharraf in 2002 with the Gwadar Port project on the rise. The only thing Nawaz Sharif did was host the Chinese Premier on February 2014, and went to China to receive a thirty year plan that the Chinese Government had already made for Pakistan to implement. The Chinese were going to give this plan to the government anyways, regardless of which government was in power. The PMLN is taking false credit for the projects. CPEC is a part of the Chinese self-interests in the greater One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR) Project. On 22 May, 2013 the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was the one to propose to Asif Ali Zardari the CPEC project. Zardari can just as easily take credit for something that was naturally setup to happen thanks to the Pakistan Army from back in the late 1950’s & 2000's. Nawaz Sharif also says that the atomic tests in 1998 was also his achievement which is another lie. Nawaz Sharif was apprehensive and too scared from American pressure to conduct the atomic tests. Nawaz Sharif was never going to conduct the tests if it wasn’t for the safety and leadership of the Pakistan Army under General Jehangir Karamat and the organization done by Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan. Finally, as far as the motorway and metro bus / train projects are concerned, more resources and money have been poured in to these projects from foreign suppliers than needed. It has always been seen that the extra money doesn't go into the projects but into the pockets of the corrupt politicians. It is sad to see that instead of building universities, hospitals, a police force, proper food, water, and electrical facilities, the corrupt PMLN politicians are filling their own pockets through commissioning money from infrastructure projects like the motorway and CPEC. The reason why PMLN wins every time in the Punjab is because rural Punjabis actually believe that 100 percent of the money is going into developing the nation, and are clueless about all of the money thier leaders are actually stealing. Rural Punjabis are also voting for PMLN because the majority of Punjabi family members are in the local governments. This highlights Pakistan's complex political family system. Even Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself has allot of family members in the current government. It has always been seen that the PMLN gives tickets to the majority of the family and friends of the senior members of the party. Let’s face it, the PMLN are ransacking dry a nation with allot of potential, and whispering lies in the ears of people in order to steal every election.

now are u willing to get a kick? luv to kick u with soccer boots