Wonderful, Awful. Best, Worst. Developing, Destroying. Rising, falling. Good, bad. This is not a test of opposites in grammar, rather a test of intent and view point in evaluating Pakistan’s economy. While the whole world is praising Pakistan’s performance in the most troubled times of the century, the local experts are saying exactly the opposite.
The World Bank, World Economic Forum, World Health Organization, Bloomberg, Fitch are continuously praising Pakistan’s outstanding response to global economic “crash”, global poverty increase, global health demise. At home the economists/experts/media are screaming of “failure” of Pakistan’s economy. This contrast is confounding till you understand the politics behind it.
These are unprecedented times. History is witnessing how an invisible virus has made the mightiest fall. Till date countries like the USA and France are recording half a million cases per day. Till date the economies are incurring record debt.
Till date the world is seeing a price hike as never before. Till date businesses are finding it difficult to recover. And this is the state of affairs of the richest, most developed, most educated, most technologically advanced.
And in this scenario a country like Pakistan with almost a bankrupt economy, little health resources and facilities, a huge number of illiterate and poor leads the way was something that should made our experts and pundits happy.
On the other hand, on every such celebratory news they have three reactions- Deny them, say that it does not apply to Pakistan, or simply amplify negativity to fade the positivity. Some telling examples of this contrast are:
- Growth hailed Vs failed— The latest country competitiveness report from World Economic Forum has hailed Pakistan government’s handling of the economy in a very positive manner. “The Executive Opinion Survey is an invaluable and unique source of high-quality perceptions data providing globally comparable proxies for critical aspects of socioeconomic developments.
The data being shared by WEF shows Pakistan’s value scores improve on more than 148 indicators.” In contrast if you see some reports of the local media or experts they are reporting “Pak Economy under turbulence, Growth not sustainable, Government lacks competence etc”. With the general public not literate enough to read global reports the local media and opinions have painted a dreary picture of the government failing.
- Poor People the Focus or Ignored— Another favourite full- time screaming chat show material is the poor becoming poorer and jobless. They splash stories of how the ordinary man is suffering. Yes, there is inflation and it has affected the poor, but whenever you mention that some key inflation spikers are not in the government’s hand and compare it to the inflation abroad, they dismiss it as not comparable.
Despite all this din, the world is repeatedly praising Pakistan’s performance on poverty alleviation. “Pakistan has also shown global leadership in putting more emphasis on human dignity and social capital values through its Ehsaas Programme.” The problem with many local analysts is that many of them feel they will only be noticed or sell if they yell about disaster.
- Health Innovation Vs Destruction— In the biggest health crisis in the world where the US and Europe have crumbled and fallen, Pakistan’s performance has become a shining star. Every global publication and forum be it Economist, WHO or WEF have repeatedly praised Pakistan.
“The world widely acknowledged Pakistan’s anti-Covid efforts through smart lockdown strategy, mainly focusing on balance between lives and livelihood.” The Universal Health Card scheme is again being acknowledged as first of its kind in the world. In contrast, the local pundits have been busy downplaying these achievements by saying that these are just slogans.
The government has many areas of improvement and the job of experts is to highlight them and push the government to work on them. There will always be spotlight on flaws, as it should be. However, to completely deny positive achievements and rubbish international assessments is also not fair and right. The government, on the other hand, needs to sift through this “finished, failed” smokescreen with a novel audience penetration approach:
- Creating Positive Ambassadors— The need is to give a balanced picture. There are many flaws that need to be corrected as there are many achievements that need to be celebrated. While bad sells in media, the audience is also hungry for good news. Remember how the nation celebrated the cricket team’s performance despite it losing the semifinal.
The need is to create a whole story of struggle, calamity and then outstanding work in many areas like health, environment and poverty alleviation. This story needs to be told not by experts but by ordinary representative of the society like teachers, doctors, plumbers, etc., to resonate with the public.
- Developing social change momentum— The major challenge is that for four decades the society has largely witnessed artificial progress. In terms of economy, prosperity, integrity and credibility the two generations have seen that only short-cuts to success work.
The rich and connected buy good life by hook or by crook. Crooks are super achievers and straight people perceived as losers. This needs to change. No government alone can change the value system if the people do not want it.
Thus a social review programme helped by mosques, schools and community workers needs to be introduced to “Say No to short cuts”, “Say No to tax evaders” “ Say No to Liars”, etc., in local languages with community champions in each household cluster to execute this right down to the home level.
- Making global, local— Having constant acknowledgement globally is a huge factor of pride for Pakistan. The need to create a local understanding of these feats requires an integrated communication strategy. Local public figures need to talk about how World Health Organization, etc., are certifying Pakistan in areas where countries that are superpowers have failed.
Nations rise and fall with public sentiment and motivation. Constructive criticism is always needed. But to have a constant message contrary to facts of despair and despondency is like dampening the spirit of the nation where pride and prejudice then become convoluted.
That is why a balance of both is imperative specially at a time where the whole world has gone through a physically, emotionally and psychologically harrowing experience of the pandemic. The very fact that the worst catastrophe, calamity, adversity of the century was weathered by Pakistan better than most developed countries is the beginning of the rise of this nation.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected])
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and an analyst and can be reached at [email protected]
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