According to a group of eminent Pakistani economists, the real per capita income of Indian Muslims is 24% lower than that of Pakistan, indicating discrimination against Muslims, but the nation must now abandon its debt-financed economic growth model and embrace changes.
The former finance minister Dr. Hafiz Pasha stated at a national seminar hosted by the Planning Commission and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) on the 75th anniversary, “The real Indian per capita income is higher than Pakistan, but in the case of 213 million Indian Muslims it is below our average.
The researchers assessed Pakistan’s performance during the last 75 years and the requirement for new policy directions.
Some of the economists and intellectuals who spoke at the seminar on Thursday have previously held important posts, such as the finance minister. Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, planning minister, and governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
The majority of Indian Muslims, according to research by Beaconhouse National University students, are concentrated in seven states, which are among India’s less developed regions.
213 million Muslims in India had a real per capita income that was 24% lower than Muslims in Pakistan, which was “evidence of our hard work over the past 75 years.”
Since 1947, Pakistan’s real per capita income has increased by 4.5 times, according to Pasha. The sub-continent, which formerly included Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, had an average growth rate of about 5%, he said.
Economic Growth
In the first three decades, India did not fare particularly well. Parallel to this, Pakistan’s growth rate in the early decades exceeded 6%.
“Poverty in Pakistan was 35% at $3.20 per day purchasing power parity while this ratio was 52% in Bangladesh and 62% in India,” he said.
According to Pasha, the long-term economic growth rates of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India were nearly comparable. He suggested raising Pakistan’s tax to GDP ratio, which was currently 10.3%.
Dr. Nadeemul Haq, vice chancellor of PIDE, said, “Pakistan has done well in the past by borrowing money, creating infrastructure, and then hoping for growth. But it is time that it shifts away from the debt-funded physical projects to indigenous policy and embraces changes. Other economists agreed with his conclusions.
Veteran politician, administrator, and longtime observer of the ups and downs of Pakistani history. Sartaj Aziz outlined the five worst failures and offered suggestions for how to alter the country’s future.
Aziz claimed that the nation’s decision to rely on imported fuel-fired power plants. It has prevented it from developing an affordable energy strategy. Additionally, it was unable to increase production and failed to implement an effective population control policy.
There was serious institutional decay and the country also failed to evolve an inclusive and democratic process due to direct and indirect military control of the democratic system, observed Aziz.
Aziz, former finance minister, and former foreign minister said “we need a new charter of governance based on fair elections”. “Gender rights, human rights, health, and education, all depend on the governance system,” he added.
According to Aziz, Pakistan must embrace new political game rules and a new charter of democratic governance based on the constitution.
Although the economy is not in a dire state, Dr. Nadeemul Haque regretted that it is in a challenging circumstance.
“Pakistan’s economy has always performed strangely. We are still stuck in the realm of extractive institutions and a colonial state. The stabilization of the economy is not a joke. The economy is what people produce through their exchange with incentive-based institutions. But if we continue holding on to colonial institutions, there will be a problem,” said Haque.