Finance: No more missteps, please

Setting priorities right is important for both individuals and nations to pursue their goals. The state defines how and when individuals’ priorities clash with national priorities, and the state machinery prevents the eruption of such clashes and checks them when they erupt. Keeping this in mind, it is important for Pakistan’s policymakers to set economic goals that not only conform to the changing needs of the nation but are also in line with the aspirations of most citizens. That is not possible unless democracy is allowed to flourish in the country and democratic institutions are strengthened. Let the caretakers come next month and allow them to fulfil their constitutional duty of holding elections. Let free and fair elections be held and see which political parties form a new government. Only then can one expect what kind of democracy we will have, whether democracy will flourish and whether our democratic institutions will be strengthened. Currently, the economic situation is chaotic primarily because forex-starved Pakistan has overborrowed funds from a host of foreign commercial sources and a few friendly foreign countries. The situation is also chaotic because the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose lifeline lending has paved the way for external borrowings from other sources, directs us on what to do and what not to do.