Election 2008, has set a tone for paying farewell bid to the economic team in the coming weeks. The elected government will like to get rid of sitting economic managers who majority believes lack a vision to take prudent economic decisions.
Always clad in the best suits, the economic managers followed a policy of pampering the money-makers and instead exploiting the resources to earn preferring to either sell the golden assets through shady privatisation deals or getting loans to give an impression that the economy was going very well. They sugarquoted loans by calling them as GDRs and IPOs. The current debt level is posing serious threat to pushing Pakistan into debt trap.
The government economic managers did everything during the last few years, which they thought could raise their status as big professionals. They embarked to ad hocism-dominated policy by preferring to stay away from hard and difficult issues. They did only what could benefit them or their handpicked cronies to add to their wealth.
The economic managers did every thing to provide the money-makers the best opportunity no matter how it comes and who pays the price and in what form. A series of Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) crisis', sugar, wheat/flour (atta) crisis will always be remembered by the people.
How can they forget such 'good governance'. Privatisation of profit-making entities and award of contacts of billions of rupees through shady deals will keep on haunting the decision-makers. The abortive deal of Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation, a strategic asset of Pakistan could be referred as an example. Upcoming transaction of Roosevalet Hotel could be another 'PSMC'. The caretakers gave the Privatisation Commission a go ahead just a few days back.
The list of PSMC-like privatisation deals is fairly long. It's the question of sparing some time to deliberate on the privatised entities. The next elected government has a tough job to do on the economic front. It has to see who created sugar and atta crisis. It also needs to look into privatisation affairs and set the record straight. It will have to confront other issues of subsidy on oil besides see who is setting aside some key decisions of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
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