Economist Atif Mian urges next government to outline priorities

Atif Mian, a prominent Pakistani-American economist and Princeton University professor, has urged the nation’s future leaders to brace themselves for a challenging economic journey and to outline priorities for recovery. Mian emphasised the country’s consistent global economic decline, highlighting last year’s contraction and alarming macroeconomic indicators such as inflation, stunted growth, escalating debt, and diminishing investment. “The federal government has reached a critical point where it lacks the financial means to sustain basic operations, unable to pay the salaries of even low-ranking employees without resorting to borrowing,” Mian remarked. He pointed out that the entire tax revenue is exhausted after disbursing shares to provinces, settling pensions for retirees, and servicing the burgeoning debt, leaving the government running on a perpetual deficit. He asserted that the dire economic situation exacerbates inflation, making it uncontrollable within a deficit-driven governance structure.