Economic stability taking hold in Pakistan: IMF
In all this hoo-ha of NRO, Judicial Activism and yellow journalism, people of Pakistan have forgotten that there is an economy that is running and running well, which to those in perpetual denial will seem unbelievable. According to IMF, Pakistan’s economy is stabilizing however, it remains vulnerable to shocks and is risky for investors. In their analysis on threats to recovery of Pakistani economy, Political Uncertainty has taken precedence of insecurity and spending against Taliban militancy. Strange isn’t it? Why would political uncertainty be a threat to Pakistan? The current political uncertainty which is being fuelled by an overzealous judiciary and an ignorant media is something which we are unable to realize is hampering the economic stability and return to growth.
Key points of the IMF report are:
- Inflation has dropped from 25% to less than 13%
- Current Account deficit has dropped from 8% of GDP to less than 3% of GDP
- Pakistan’s CDS (Credit Default Swap) has dropped from 9% to less than 7.5%. it may also be noted that Pakistan has successfully matured its Euro Bond in 2010 and no default has ever taken place.
- On the matter of foreign direct investment (FDI), they have halved to just $1.77 billion while in comparison a country like Vietnam received more than $10 billion in 2010.
- Their report is also cognizant that portfolio investment has improved which means that foreign investors view the capital markets of Pakistan as a better option to invest than going through the FDI.
You can read about the interview on Dawn’s website on this link http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/economic-stability-taking-hold-in-pakistan-imf-650
All Pakistan needs is political stability. With political stability we can at least show a positive image of the nation to the world and that will itself be a good enough way to attract the world to invest in Pakistan. Our “18 crore awam” provide a market to the world and that is what we should market rather than clichéd nuances of our media.