The policymakers in Pakistan should focus on provision of quality education, meaningful employment and engagement for the youth of country to achieve economic and social development goals. This was the crux of a panel discussion at 34th annual general meeting of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) organised by Pakistan Institute of Development Economic (PIDE).
Dr Adil Najam from Boston University, US, who was the lead author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which won 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, while speaking at Mahboob-ul-Haq Memorial Lecture with the theme 'Bringing Human Capital Back to Pakistan' highlighted three crucial issues (three Es) faced by young people i.e. quality education, meaningful employment and meaningful engagement.
He said the youth now comprise a major chunk of Pakistan's population, and by 2045, the future of Pakistan will be decided by the demographic bracket that is now under 30 years of age. Contrary to other countries, in Pakistan the youth dividend has not translated into increased employment and human development. The policymakers have to focus on the three Es to give an impetus to development.
He argued that human development is a function of three factors namely health, wealth and knowledge. Therefore, to boost the level of human development, these three vital components should be prioritised. Pakistan now lies far behind the neighbouring countries in human development. He cited that HDI for Bangladesh and Iran has shown an increasing trend, and in these countries, there is a boom in service sector's exports and women education. He suggested that serious work is required for women education and for this, there is need to provide transportation and sanitation facilities to girls. Similarly, investment in domain of health facilities, urban community development and youth with special focus on women's education can prove to be beneficial in increasing the level of human development in Pakistan.
Malir University vice chancellor Dr Mehtab Karim said Pakistan has been left behind other countries in HDI mainly due to high population growth. He mentioned that due to high birth rate about 30 percent of Pakistan's population consists of youth in ages between 15 and 29 years. He cited that small percentage of young people in Pakistan seeks postsecondary education compared to other Muslim countries like Turkey, Egypt and Bangladesh and many are inclined to seek employment abroad.
Dr Eatzaz Ahmad of Quaid-e-Azam University addressing on the theme 'The Management of Economy' said GDP growth of Pakistan has been fluctuating. He cited that in 1960's, the growth rate of Pakistan was viewed as an ideal for development but now it is nowhere. He sees the lack of institutional support and inadvertent policies as the main reasons for aggravated economic growth of country.
State Bank of Pakistan's former acting governor Riaz-ul-din discussed Exchange Rate Management in Pakistan and said exchange rate management regimes kept changing in Pakistan and poor exchange rate management is one of the reasons behind poor export performance. He suggested that there is serious need to boost remittances in order to stabilise exchange rate.
Dr Ashfaq Hasan Khan, the member Economic Advisory Council argued that exchange rate is very weak determinant of exports and on the other hand, exchange rate has very adverse impact on the external debt. He said any potential benefit of exchange rate is wiped out due to increase in external debt, and in addition the devaluation raises the costs of inputs for local production which hurts the economy badly. He emphasised the need to control public debt and boost private investments.
PIDE vice chancellor Dr Asad Zaman concluded the session by arguing that the exchange rate can be managed only at the cost of foreign reserves, which is rather bad for the economy.