The good news is that the economy of Pakistan is picking up, but bad news is that we as a nation are not prepared for it. The government is apparently unprepared to focus on economic growth and has no interest in internalizing the aspects of inclusive growth and sustainable development. Rather it is focusing on revenue generation from taxes, duties, levies and anything else it comes across without realizing that burden on business and trade will slow down not only growth, but also new investment. Pakistan’s economy is mostly immune to foreign trends of business and trade, but it cannot live in isolation for a long time. The government needs a team of experts to devise prudent policies and a fully alert machinery to start implementation process. The government will have to remove structural weaknesses before launching its policies for economic recovery and economic growth. The government has so far failed to introduce structural reforms while the bureaucratic machinery has become the victim of monotony because of following the cut-paste policies over the years. It is difficult to bring paradigm shift in the administrative set up overnight, but the government has failed to set an agenda for capacity building of the officials.
In the absence of an affective check and balance, policies and important decisions always face delays by the senior cadre which most of the time relies on the lower staff. Soon after assuming the office, the present leadership had expressed the resolve to face the challenges, will prioritize strategies and build momentum to achieve the national and universal financial inclusion in an integrated and sustained manner. However, the government could not improve financial inclusion as well as regulatory and supervisory environment etc. At the end, it is standing at a point from where it had started its journey. There is a need to involve policymakers, investors and all other stakeholders in the area of financial inclusion to allow them to play their respective roles in financial, business and trade sectors.The world is moving at a fast rate and reports emanating from the world financial organizations point out lacunae in the economy of Pakistan in global perspective. Therefore, the policymakers as well as businessmen and all other stakeholders should keep themselves abreast of the changes in the world economic environment.
There is also need to adopt modern information and communication technologies and develop legal framework to streamline economic and financial affairs in a perfect manner. Economic opportunities are knocking our door and we have to prepare ourselves to give them a happy welcome.
