The blind pursuit of growth

The caretaker setup led by Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar has clearly hinted at changing the course and speed of the economy. Speaking to the media persons on Friday after six hours of deliberations on numerous issues facing the country’s moribund economy at the first session of a two-day meeting of the army-backed Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), the key caretaker ministers minced few words to send across the message that the interim administration is preparing to gun for faster growth by ’revitalising an economy that has seen months of decline due to strict import regulations“. That appears totally in line with the views of army chief Gen Asim Munir, who was quoted by Karachi-based builder and stock broker A.K. Dhedhi to have told the businesspeople that the country must now move towards growth. Mr Dhedhi had also implied that the army chief is looking beyond the current International Monetary Fund programme as he expects large official capital inflows of $75 billion from the oil-rich Gulf states in the shape of investments, with an additional $10bn as deposits from Saudi Arabia to immediately shore up the country’s foreign exchange reserves.