Legacy of Shaukat Aziz

To the emotional outburst of your scribe on the subject (Rais Ahmed Khan B.R. 23 February 2008), my response would be to rationally examine the issues in the light of the underlying facts, if not statistics.
GoP has one of the best policies available on encouraging private sector power projects in Pakistan. It is the inconsistencies in governance and policy implementation processes, pre-dating Shaukat Aziz's era, which have led to a decrease of FDI in our Power Sector.
We should remember that it was during Benazir's era, when exceptionally attractive options were awarded to both local and foreign investors in the private sector power generation.
Come Nawaz's government and a Pandora's Box was opened in criticism of those investors who had already entered into agreements with GoP for establishing mega power projects. Serious charges of malafides, fraud, and kick-backs were filed against both the Benazir government as well as the foreign investors. Indeed, the enquiries included certain officials of the World Bank even.
To the short-term fiduciary benefit to the country and political gains to the Nawaz government, ratified agreements were rescinded and, following years of negotiations, revised to the satisfaction of that government.
Delays meant hefty cost-overruns and reduced bottom line projections for the PPI's. Worst still, they lost faith in any Pakistani Government to honour its written and ratified commitments.
That stopped any further meaningful expansion in the power sector in Pakistan, putting a stop to the reduction of the power demand-supply gap. While population and consumption have increased over the years, the supply has remained static.
On the wheat and oil front, it must be realised that Pakistan is a part of the global economy circus which, with real-time satellite information systems in place, has brought our own growers, traders and businessmen at par with the price movements of these commodities all over the world.
Bad crops during the past one year in India and Australia and increasing demand for wheat around the globe, with our own wheat selling at cheaper rates, besides our cheaper exchange rate, it was a buy or steal order from the wheat-deficient countries for Pakistani wheat.
Our traders and businessmen saw the opportunity of making an extra buck from this opportunity and our surplus wheat was either exported or smuggled abroad. One must remember, that Pakistan does not have sufficient storage capacity, in the form of silos, for keeping any God-sent surplus of wheat safe from disease or rodent consumption.
Edible oil shortages have also been created due to the differential between its lower price in Pakistan as compared to other neighbouring but prosperous countries. It is the traders, once again, who have benefited from the situation.
An allowance must also be made for covert connivance between the vested interests in Pakistan for creating artificial shortages in the market, during the election period, to gather political mileage by putting the blame on the ruling government.
Shortage of fruits and vegetables, in addition to the reasons already explained, can also be attributed to heavier than normal monsoon rains causing flooding in Balochistan and Sindh, besides hampering inter-city rail and road communications. Destruction, by design, of such communications, by terrorists has also been a cause.
One should also take into account the role of globe-trotting flippant ministers supervising MINFAL and the Ministry of Commerce, with respect to the food crisis. Also must not be ignored is the fact that both food and agriculture are Provincial Government subjects, overseen for policy-making purposes only, by the Federal Government.
If the Nation cannot arrive at a consensus for building major dams, which take ages to build and be ready to supply water and electricity, the fault lies not with the government of the day, but those opportunists in the political arena who misguide our people about such projects.
For the first time in Pakistan's history, instead of lethargic and bumptious bureaucrats, there were people in the Finance Ministry under Shaukat Aziz, who painstakingly worked out each agreement with our counterparties in financial transactions, saving us from colossal losses, besides improving our country risk profile. The rate at which we were advanced funds came substantially down and our foreign debt saw a great decline.
I will, however, allow your scribe some satisfaction, by admitting that although a very good Finance Minister, Shaukat Aziz was not cut out to be used as a Prime Minister. Moreover, it was too much for him to also operate as an economic planner for a developing country, an area in which he had no prior experience.