The lost path to prosperity

The nation is commemorating independence today. An informal limited survey indicated that the number of individuals questioning these celebrations has increased this year. In addition to the usual sceptics and some segments of impoverished population, millennials and Generation Z (aged 11 to 40) have joined those in doubt in big numbers. This negativity feels peculiar at this juncture. The economy has been spared the collapse, and democracy is on track. Investor confidence is gradually recovering, yet public disillusionment has reached its base level. The question that confronts us is: What circumstances have led Pakistan, abundant in both natural and human resources, to its current state? True, all problems have not been countered but no one contests that economically Pakistan is at a better place today than where it was just weeks earlier. The country dodged sovereign default that looked imminent at one point. After a long wait, stars suddenly realigned in its favour. Be it improving Saudi-Iran ties, relative thaw in US-China tensions, access to new cheap Russian oil or the revived China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, opportunities have started presenting themselves.