DAWN Editorials - 17th April 2025
Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2025 12:39 pm
Double-edged sword
THE generous ‘incentives package’ for Pakistani expats, announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is yet another symptom of the Dutch disease afflicting Pakistan’s economy. In our case, however, the disease is not linked to natural resources, which mostly remain unexplored, but to the growing reliance on workers’ abroad to stay afloat.
Amid drying up foreign loan and aid flows, the dependence on remittances has had a major role in crowding out manufacturing and exports, leading to deindustrialisation over more than a decade. The package for overseas Pakistanis comprises special courts to address their cases, age relaxation in government jobs, medical college quotas for their children, relief in banking and business transaction taxes, green channel facilities at airports, civil awards, etc. It is intended to salute their contribution, in the shape of remittances, to Pakistan’s development. Separately, the government has lifted the 3pc federal excise duty on real estate transactions, which will indirectly benefit the expats, who are major investors in the property sector, as well as the developer mafia.
How does it make any sense to incentivise consumption and unproductive real estate investments — which form the core of our economic troubles — by them? Media coverage of the two-day Overseas Pakistanis Convention did not reveal any inclination on the part of the 1,200 participants from across the world to set up manufacturing units or invest in their motherland’s farm economy.
No doubt, in recent years, remittances have provided critical support to the current account. But they have also been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they help us pay our burgeoning import bills and compensate for the dwindling foreign official and private inflows as well as stagnating exports; on the other, they are largely responsible for the rapid increase in imported consumption, unplanned urban sprawls, currency volatility, anti-export bias, etc.
With foreign investment having bottomed, remittances should be channelled into productive sectors to boost output and exports for a durable solution to the recurring balance-of-payments crisis. This can be done by making investment in industry and agriculture attractive through cost reductions, removal of policy distortions, creation of a business-friendly clime, tax reforms, policy consistency, etc. The policies governing these sectors should apply to all: local and foreign investors, as well as overseas Pakistanis. If the government wants to give incentives, these should be for those expats who are willing to bring their money home to invest in productive segments of the economy, not just in property. What is reflected in the incentive package is a Dutch disease that has made us lazy. Instead of fixing the economy through long-term structural reforms, our policymakers and politicians are again looking for shortcuts to achieve an economic turnaround.
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2025
Besieged people
DESPITE all the talk about becoming a ‘hard’ state, Pakistan is still looking incredibly soft when it comes to dealing with ongoing state failures, such as the months-long siege of Parachinar. Tuesday saw the traders of Parachinar city go on a shutter-down strike in protest against the months-long closure of the Thall-Parachinar Road, which has cut off the city’s only trade route with the rest of Pakistan. The road, the only one that leads to the city, has been cut off ever since a convoy travelling along it was attacked last November. That attack, which left 50 dead, triggered a spiral of violence that killed 130 more over the next few months before a ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year helped stem the wanton bloodshed in the area. However, the so-called ‘peace agreement’ has been violated off and on, with spoilers targeting not only the locals, but also aid convoys, security forces and government officials. The people of Parachinar, meanwhile, have been rendered collateral damage, with both young and old suffering because nothing can get in or out of the city. As the president of the Parachinar Traders Union put it: “Those who are ill must wait for death, as they do not have medicines nor can they travel [for treatment].”
Locals have long complained about widespread malnutrition, untreated illnesses and the general desperation for basic necessities in Parachinar. How can such suffering be countenanced by a responsible state, especially one so enamoured of its own might and ability? How can it allow a few miscreants to make a mockery of its writ upon territory that it has dominion over? It is difficult to blame anyone in particular for what has been happening, and continues to happen, in Parachinar. This level of human suffering, regardless of who is suffering, ought to be unacceptable for any self-respecting society. That it has continued for months on end makes it the collective failure of the civilian government, of the security forces supposed to protect the area, as well as the local religious and political leadership, who ought to have by now arrived at a durable settlement of the long-standing issues that fuel routine outbreaks of bloodshed. The state should draw the line somewhere. The road to Parachinar must be reopened, and the miscreants told that there will be severe consequences for their misadventures.
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2025
Deadly zealotry
FEARS that mob attacks on international fast-food franchises would end up in tragedy have come true, after police say a worker at a foreign chain was shot dead in Sheikhupura earlier this week. The killing occurred after a TLP anti-Israel protest had wound up. Law enforcers say two men targeted a foreign chain, firing shots from the outside, resulting in the death of Asif Nawaz, a restaurant worker who was reportedly present in the outlet’s kitchen. Earlier, several foreign eateries in various cities and towns of Sindh and Punjab had been vandalised by mobs; disturbing footage on social media shows men armed with clubs invading an outlet in Rawalpindi, as workers and patrons, including women and children, take cover. All of this is being done ostensibly in solidarity with Palestine. However, the murder and bullying of innocent people only besmirches the just Palestinian cause. The authorities must crack down on this violent behaviour before more tragedies occur.
Sadly, extremist outfits are using the name of Palestine to stay relevant in society. Some of the groups involved have also been attacking religious minorities, particularly in Punjab. The attacks on food outlets have continued, despite leading clerics calling upon people to keep boycotts peaceful. There is no denying that Israel is carrying out a genocidal war in Gaza. However, murdering innocent people, and attacking firms assumed to be supporting the Zionist state, is indefensible. Consumers are free to non-violently boycott brands they feel may be supportive of Israel. But there can be no space for the ferocious vigilantism of extremist groups, which use emotive issues to stay in the headlines. These same groups also weaponise the sensitive issue of blasphemy to forward their dark agendas. The state must arrest and bring to justice those involved in the Sheikhupura murder, while the elements involved in attacking eateries elsewhere also need to be traced and punished. There can be no tolerance for such vile behaviour.
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2025
THE generous ‘incentives package’ for Pakistani expats, announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is yet another symptom of the Dutch disease afflicting Pakistan’s economy. In our case, however, the disease is not linked to natural resources, which mostly remain unexplored, but to the growing reliance on workers’ abroad to stay afloat.
Amid drying up foreign loan and aid flows, the dependence on remittances has had a major role in crowding out manufacturing and exports, leading to deindustrialisation over more than a decade. The package for overseas Pakistanis comprises special courts to address their cases, age relaxation in government jobs, medical college quotas for their children, relief in banking and business transaction taxes, green channel facilities at airports, civil awards, etc. It is intended to salute their contribution, in the shape of remittances, to Pakistan’s development. Separately, the government has lifted the 3pc federal excise duty on real estate transactions, which will indirectly benefit the expats, who are major investors in the property sector, as well as the developer mafia.
How does it make any sense to incentivise consumption and unproductive real estate investments — which form the core of our economic troubles — by them? Media coverage of the two-day Overseas Pakistanis Convention did not reveal any inclination on the part of the 1,200 participants from across the world to set up manufacturing units or invest in their motherland’s farm economy.
No doubt, in recent years, remittances have provided critical support to the current account. But they have also been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they help us pay our burgeoning import bills and compensate for the dwindling foreign official and private inflows as well as stagnating exports; on the other, they are largely responsible for the rapid increase in imported consumption, unplanned urban sprawls, currency volatility, anti-export bias, etc.
With foreign investment having bottomed, remittances should be channelled into productive sectors to boost output and exports for a durable solution to the recurring balance-of-payments crisis. This can be done by making investment in industry and agriculture attractive through cost reductions, removal of policy distortions, creation of a business-friendly clime, tax reforms, policy consistency, etc. The policies governing these sectors should apply to all: local and foreign investors, as well as overseas Pakistanis. If the government wants to give incentives, these should be for those expats who are willing to bring their money home to invest in productive segments of the economy, not just in property. What is reflected in the incentive package is a Dutch disease that has made us lazy. Instead of fixing the economy through long-term structural reforms, our policymakers and politicians are again looking for shortcuts to achieve an economic turnaround.
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2025
Besieged people
DESPITE all the talk about becoming a ‘hard’ state, Pakistan is still looking incredibly soft when it comes to dealing with ongoing state failures, such as the months-long siege of Parachinar. Tuesday saw the traders of Parachinar city go on a shutter-down strike in protest against the months-long closure of the Thall-Parachinar Road, which has cut off the city’s only trade route with the rest of Pakistan. The road, the only one that leads to the city, has been cut off ever since a convoy travelling along it was attacked last November. That attack, which left 50 dead, triggered a spiral of violence that killed 130 more over the next few months before a ceasefire agreement reached earlier this year helped stem the wanton bloodshed in the area. However, the so-called ‘peace agreement’ has been violated off and on, with spoilers targeting not only the locals, but also aid convoys, security forces and government officials. The people of Parachinar, meanwhile, have been rendered collateral damage, with both young and old suffering because nothing can get in or out of the city. As the president of the Parachinar Traders Union put it: “Those who are ill must wait for death, as they do not have medicines nor can they travel [for treatment].”
Locals have long complained about widespread malnutrition, untreated illnesses and the general desperation for basic necessities in Parachinar. How can such suffering be countenanced by a responsible state, especially one so enamoured of its own might and ability? How can it allow a few miscreants to make a mockery of its writ upon territory that it has dominion over? It is difficult to blame anyone in particular for what has been happening, and continues to happen, in Parachinar. This level of human suffering, regardless of who is suffering, ought to be unacceptable for any self-respecting society. That it has continued for months on end makes it the collective failure of the civilian government, of the security forces supposed to protect the area, as well as the local religious and political leadership, who ought to have by now arrived at a durable settlement of the long-standing issues that fuel routine outbreaks of bloodshed. The state should draw the line somewhere. The road to Parachinar must be reopened, and the miscreants told that there will be severe consequences for their misadventures.
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2025
Deadly zealotry
FEARS that mob attacks on international fast-food franchises would end up in tragedy have come true, after police say a worker at a foreign chain was shot dead in Sheikhupura earlier this week. The killing occurred after a TLP anti-Israel protest had wound up. Law enforcers say two men targeted a foreign chain, firing shots from the outside, resulting in the death of Asif Nawaz, a restaurant worker who was reportedly present in the outlet’s kitchen. Earlier, several foreign eateries in various cities and towns of Sindh and Punjab had been vandalised by mobs; disturbing footage on social media shows men armed with clubs invading an outlet in Rawalpindi, as workers and patrons, including women and children, take cover. All of this is being done ostensibly in solidarity with Palestine. However, the murder and bullying of innocent people only besmirches the just Palestinian cause. The authorities must crack down on this violent behaviour before more tragedies occur.
Sadly, extremist outfits are using the name of Palestine to stay relevant in society. Some of the groups involved have also been attacking religious minorities, particularly in Punjab. The attacks on food outlets have continued, despite leading clerics calling upon people to keep boycotts peaceful. There is no denying that Israel is carrying out a genocidal war in Gaza. However, murdering innocent people, and attacking firms assumed to be supporting the Zionist state, is indefensible. Consumers are free to non-violently boycott brands they feel may be supportive of Israel. But there can be no space for the ferocious vigilantism of extremist groups, which use emotive issues to stay in the headlines. These same groups also weaponise the sensitive issue of blasphemy to forward their dark agendas. The state must arrest and bring to justice those involved in the Sheikhupura murder, while the elements involved in attacking eateries elsewhere also need to be traced and punished. There can be no tolerance for such vile behaviour.
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2025