Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Friday said that fiscal mismanagement is the reason behind difficult economic situation Pakistan is facing at present.
“We are going through difficult economic situation due to fiscal mismanagement. We have been shying of taking difficult decisions,” the army chief said while addressing a national seminar on ‘Pakistan’s Economy: Challenges and Way Forward’ organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies, Research and Analysis (ISSRA) at the National Defence University (NDU).
“Armed forces played their part by voluntarily foregoing annual increase in defence budget … and this is not the only step we are taking for improvement of economy,” the army chief said. “We understand that government has gone for difficult but quintessential decisions for long-term benefits and what we are doing is playing our part,” he continued. “We all need to fulfill our responsibilities in this regard so that these difficult initiatives succeed,” he stressed. “There are examples in recent past when other countries also confronted similar challenges and they came out successfully after taking difficult decisions,” he observed. “We shall also wade through these challenges,” he hoped. “In difficult times, no individual alone can succeed unless nation comes together unitedly. It’s time to be a nation,” he maintained.
The army chief endorsed undeniable linkage between security and economy as both directly complement each other. “There cannot be any sovereignty in the absence of economic sovereignty,” he maintained. Gen Bajwa thanked the NDU for organising the seminar and panel and attendees for their participation. He said that such types of interactions are important to enable both government and other stakeholders in exchanging their views on issues of national importance.
The army chief also highlighted Pakistan’s efforts for restoring regional peace that will lead to better trade connectivity. Talking about regional connectivity, the COAS reiterated his vision that countries cannot develop individually. “It’s region that develops. For our region to develop, we need to have greater regional connectivity amongst all neighbours,” he stressed.
Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh in his key note address dilated upon reasons which resulted into increasing the economic challenges. He counted perpetual security threats, inconsistent economic policies, poor economic discipline and lack of will to take difficult decisions in the past as major contributors to the economic situation the government is facing today.
Panel of speakers included Dr Salman Shah, advisor to chief minister of Punjab on economic affairs and planning; Dr Farrukh Iqbal, dean and director IBA; Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, executive director at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI); Almas Haider, president of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Syed Shabbar Zaidi, chairman FBR.
Principal and Dean School of Social Sciences and Humanities (NUST) Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan chaired and moderated the seminar. In his introduction, he highlighted the linkage of economy and security. He quoted Paul Kennedy, a British Historian specialising in the history of international relations and economics power, who had said that ‘a nation’s military strength rests on its economic strength’, and Robert McNamara, former president of World Bank, who had said ‘security means development and without development there is no security’. “Therefore economy matter for security. If economy is weakened, the country’s national security will weaken.”
The seminar dilated on ways of overcoming budget deficit, low tax collection base, circular debt, loss ridden public sector enterprises, fiscal indiscipline, undocumented economy, weak institutional capacity, low exports, meeting federal obligations within existing NFC arrangements and the perceptions surrounding the prevailing economic environment.
