This is apropos a Business Recorder editorial “Inducting Tarin into ‘IK XI’ is a good bet” carried by the newspaper on Tuesday. The newspaper has concluded its argument by saying that “This is why Tarin stated that he is not advocating abandoning the [International Monetary Fund] programme and emphasised that there is a need to put our own house in order, especially with respect to power and tax sectors, and state-owned entities (SOEs) many of which remain without a chair…”

The newspaper seems to have lost sight of the fact that the country’s economy had become increasingly chaotic and out of control during Tarin’s tenure (from 2009 to 2010) in the Asif Zardari-led PPP government. He is no doubt a very successful banker. The then prime minister during Gen Musharraf’s rule, Shaukat Aziz, too, was a top global banker of very high repute. Both of them lacked foresight or discernment; they always took a very narrow view of every task or challenge before them. Globally, bankers are known for their myopic approach to marginalized businesspeople. My point needs no further elaboration.

Sanam Bukhari (Lahore)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021