Have a heart problem, consult a cardiologist. Don’t go the generally physician. The analogy can be drawn for Pakistan economic woes where micro level structural problems are dealt by a bunch of general macroeconomists.
How can any specific economic disease be treated, if the right specialist is not consulted? Hence, the frequency of boom bust cycle has increased in the last two decade with same set of macro solution offered every time without addressing structural micro issues.
PM Khan has to bring economic ‘change’ by having the right kind of economists and specialists at right jobs. The EAC and other economic advisors for current government are more or less the ones who were there in previous regimes and are presenting similar solutions which did not work in the past. The modus operandi is to pick one economist from every think thank or clan and virtually all of them have been working on the same issues. What kind of diversification and dynamism these experts bring on table?
It is the same tightening - the steps and their sequencing are now a common knowledge with every economist, journalists and expert is playing it. The set of generalists has to be replaced with specialists to advice on sector specific issues, to be coordinated and implemented in an institutionalized framework.
In better managed countries, every top economist has a thesis or an area of expertise. Such experts have to come on front. There are enough proven exports in the fields of education, governance, policing reform and devolution, civil services reforms and cities development. If we do not have PHD economics expert on energy, taxation and on other pertinent sectors, bring relevant experts on board.
The work on ease of doing business and in reducing the cost of doing business has to be more than summarizing and narrating the well defined one dozen pillars of Global Competitive Index. Macroeconomic environment is just one pillar; one may wonder why all debate is around it. Why half of the EAC meeting time is eaten on the discussion on the IMF? Why, on media, it is all about lamenting same poor economic ratios and proposing solutions which could never be implemented in letter and spirit in the political economy of Pakistan?
There is no one package solution to the big problem. The priority has to be set right. All the economists have an agreement that fiscal imbalance is the biggest economic worry in Pakistan. On expenditure side, leakages are in energy and PSEs – Pakistan needs such experts. On revenue, tax policy experts are warranted.
Austerity now has to be demonstrated beyond symbolism, it has to be obtained by transiting from previous century’s colonial mindset. Pakistan as a country needs to evolve, and the same holds true for economic thinking.