Stuck in the past

FINANCE Minister Ishaq Dar could have kept the Pakistan Economic Survey 2022-23 unveiling ceremony quite short. ‘We blame everyone and everything but ourselves’, would have neatly summarised the gist of most of what he had to say about his government’s report card for the outgoing fiscal year. It wasn’t difficult to see why he felt a need to be so defensive. The numbers he had to share told a harrowing tale: most key targets were missed, the economy barely kept afloat, inflation had wrecked citizens’ purchasing power, and everything pointed to the prospect of a continuing slowdown in the absence of any unforeseen stimuli. Perhaps it would have been easier to sympathise had some self-appraisal and reflexivity been on display. After all, even in periods of severe crisis, one can find hope in knowing their future is in the hands of someone who is honest and forthright about the challenges that are being faced.