Painful for whom?

In the past couple of weeks, politicians from several political parties have come together in a self-professed nonpartisan attempt to generate consensus for economic reforms. Given the magnitude of the economic crisis currently facing Pakistan, and the general lack of clear thinking about solutions, any and all such endeavours are welcome. The composition of this ‘pressure group’ — an ex-prime minister and an ex-finance minister among its members — suggests it has more meaningful capacity to influence conversation, especially when compared to standard advocacy efforts for reform led by academics and development practitioners. Whether it’s able to move the needle within their own political parties, principally the PML-N, and influence actual decision-making in government is a separate matter. This advocacy attempt also opens up a broader question: what would it take for a government, any government, to undertake reforms that could move the country out of socioeconomic stagnation. And yes, the problem is of both economic and social development. Pakistan has fallen behind regional countries not just in terms of economic growth over the past few decades, but also on a range of social indicators related to education, health, gender, and environmental sustainability.