This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed “SBP’s economic outlook” carried by the newspaper on Tuesday. The writer, venerated Dr Hafiz Pasha, has made a very pertinent point in relation to government’s seeming over-optimism about country’s economy. According to him, for example, “Overall, there is need to avoid a somewhat premature and optimistic assessment of the projections for the economy of Pakistan in FY21. There are too many factors which could operate either positively or negatively at this point. Among the imponderables is the possible adverse impact on economic activity by demonstrations and rallies by the opposition parties in coming weeks. We will have to keep our fingers crossed and pray that Pakistan emerges successfully in FY21 from the negative impact of COVID-19.”

In my view, however, the government has taken a highly questionable approach to the country’s economic challenges. It has, for example, borrowed as much as 24 billion dollars in its two years in power so far. Is it a prudent or wise strategy to meeting country’s debt repayment and servicing obligations since the amount that has been borrowed is immensely high? The economy has been facing a slew of serious challenges. There appears to be no light at

the end of the tunnel. A wave of uncertainty pervades the entire country.

SULTANA MAHAR (KARACHI)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020