In her op-ed titled "PTI's economic agenda" for Business Recorder, Anjum Ibrahim has made an insightful and objective analysis of what PTI can do and what it cannot.
She has pointed, among other things that "some of Asad Umar's remarks with respect to the first 100-day agenda of the PTI can, therefore, be viewed as based on the UNDP report... ."
There is no doubt about the fact that hers is a highly objective opinion. She seems to have, however, dealt with the issue rather unfairly in the conclusion of her argument by stating that Umar's 100-day agenda does not reflect an economically sound analytical approach and one would urge Imran Khan to bring in an economist to head the Ministry at least till the economy has successfully dealt with the three Ds. According to her, "Umar however is uniquely qualified to head the wealth fund he has proposed given his success in running Engro." Coming from a senior economic journalist as it does, the argument unfortunately reflect a certain anti-PTI and anti-Umar bias and prejudice. There is no doubt about the fact that Umar is fully equipped with the required knowledge and experience to deal with a slew of economic issues, including those relating to PSEs, job creation, balance of payment, external account, twin deficit, inflation, pricing, foreign exchange reserves and remittances.