Poor economic conditions and politics

 

 

Pakistan is one of the poor countries of the world and weak economic condition is always a concern. Its stakeholders have to rely on loans, aids and concesstions for fulfilling financial needs of the country. Dozens of seminars have been conducted by its think-tanks and hundreds of papers have been published by its policymakers to fix the bleeding economy but signs of sustainable economic growth are still very bleak. 

 Though there are numerous reasons of crippling economy of the country, hostile political culture of the country is a major stumbling block in the way of sustainable economic growth. And, one can justify the claim with ease. First of all, economy only thrives in stable political environment. Unfortunately, the leverage is alien in Pakistan. More often, political environment remains charged. Right from days of independence, opposition and some other non-political actors always try to keep the government under their influence. On one hand, it is almost a tacit norm in the politics that opposition always criticises acts of the governments even if they are very viable for the country. On the other hand, frequent protests and rallies hinder business activities in the major hubs. In this way, whichever party comes in the government, it spends its whole tenure in tackling opposition rather than framing healthy policies.

 Similarly, economic strength also hinges on long-term prudent economic policies. But, the culture does not allow formulation of such policies. Therefore, the  governments have to rely on short-term populists' measures for governing the economic sector. For instance, despite heavy losses and no sign of growth, successive governments have failed to privatise enterprises like PIA because oppositions of different times have  not shown  willingness to support the act. Same is true for development of exports' sector and indusrtialion.

 Meanwhile, informal economy is another reason of weak economic conditions. Smugglers,gangsters and corrupt individuals are exploiting the weakness. But, no political party is ready to find the answer of the question beacuse any measure of documenting the economy will be detrimental to political capitals of the parties as many parties get financial support from this segment of the economy. In other words, if a political system is primary beneficiary of undocumented economy, it is naive to expect reforms from the system.

 Likewise, taxes are soul of powerful and sustainable econimies. But, in Pakistan, tax to GDP ratio is very low. Again, it is political culture of the state which disallows its law makers and policymakers  from enhancing tax base. For example, if government imposes taxes on real estate business and agriculture, it will lose support of business tycoons, sugar mills' owners and feudal lords. Moreover, elite class sitting in the government sector is always ready to halt any move against their interests. In this way, agendum of tax reforms is off the table.

 At the same time, economy of states flourishes on solid foundations of human capital. But, the culture does not support development of human capital. It is not in interest of political elite that people of remote areas of Sindh, Punjab, KPK and Balochistan get education and challenge their monopoly. In this way, the economy is deprived of one of the necessary ingredients of the growth.

 In addition to this, strong institutions led by deligent and honest statesmen ensure economic growth. However, as nepotism, favoritism and political affiliations are major traits of the political culture, there is very little space for meritocracy and efficacy. In simple words, top slots are only for those who can serve the interests of politicians. This factor also dents the economy.

 Summing it up, one can say that political culture of Pakistan is root cause of poor economic conditions. And, politicians have to show maturity if they want to change  fortune of the country.