Pakistan is in its tipping point crisis where it should decide to remain a laggard with 40 percent population living below the poverty line under elite capture and policy decisions driven by strong vested interests of military, political and business leaders or change course to take off for a brighter future.
The good sign, however, is that the countries with higher sustainable economic growth like India, Indonesia, and Vietnam also made the right decisions at the time of crisis and were able to overcome similar challenges. “This may be Pakistan’s moment in making policy shifts,” said Najy Benhassine, Country Director for the World Bank in Pakistan, at a news briefing while releasing a set of policy notes for debate and discussions for finalisation before the newly elected government comes in.
He said Pakistan was in the middle of a human resource capital and economic crisis. “Policy decisions are heavily influenced by strong vested interests, including those of military, political and business leaders,” reads an overview of the Reforms For a Brighter Future: Time to Decide“ that Mr Benhassine released. He said Pakistan had been facing numerous economic hardships including inflation, rising electricity prices, severe climate shocks, and insufficient public resources to finance development and climate adaptation — when the country was among the most vulnerable to climate change impacts.
“It is also facing a ‘silent’ human capital crisis: abnormally high child stunting rates, low learning outcomes, and high child mortality,” Mr Najy said, adding that Pakistan’s economic model no longer reducing poverty and it was very concerning that poverty reduction successes until 2018 had been reversed since.
