Fault lines in economic security

The national security paradigm revolves around economic security. A country is strong only if its economy is strong. It is beyond doubt that economic security makes a nation's defence impregnable.

Pakistan faces enormous economic challenges today, which need the immediate attention of policymakers. The government needs to revisit its economic policies and initiatives, as economic security fault lines may lead to sovereign default and compel the government to partially compromise on its national security structure. But the real task is to identify the economic fault lines to plug the holes and correct the course.

Political instability is the first fault line disturbing economic security. The first step to achieving economic stability is ensuring political stability. This needs the attention of all those who matter, especially the government to correct course, as we are badly suffering from our internal strife and stresses and shocks.

Here lies the role of the powerful quarters too, predominantly in the realm of our institutional framework. Political stability will contribute a lot towards achieving our economic security, as emphasised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well, for sustainable growth. Personal egos need to be set aside for the ultimate goal of the country's prosperity. 

The grand dialogue at the national level to uphold the constitution may provide solutions to these issues. National leaders must rise above their biases to break the logjam for the prime objective of achieving unity at the national level.

Economic security can be ensured with the right planning, which is the first step to correct course. Proper planning is key to progress. Here lies the fault line that needs to be corrected. Lack of planning or no planning at all is the first thing to consider, where policymakers have to think twice to either get the planning right or identify priority areas. 

The planning division lacks the vision to draft the right choices for economic growth and development owing to multiple factors, especially the lack of experts and professionals.

Government functionaries are in a rut of the old bureaucratic reshuffle and are incapable and incapacitated to plan or execute required priorities. It needs a complete overhaul through the induction of fresh faces consisting of professionals capable of making decisions through the right priorities and planning for economic growth and development.

No country can progress without industrialisation, especially the heavy industrial sector. Industrial clusters are essential for progress. Slackness on the part of the government to industrialise the country is another area that could provide economic security. 

Again, the right priorities that could provide a strong base required to strengthen the economy are missing. The total exports of around $30 billion are a matter of serious concern for a country of 250 million people, standing at the fifth position on the list of the world's most populous countries.

The lack of industrialisation is one of the basic reasons for poverty here although we were capable of progressing and developing had proper planning been done and investment has been made by our policymakers. Now, another fault line has emerged so far as industrialisation is concerned, and that is the rise in the cost of production, making our industry uncompetitive. 

The industry is now shifting to other countries, or industrialists are shutting down industrial units to save themselves from losses. This is the real disaster.

A large amount of debt is another handicap that is restricting the country from economic progress. Pakistan is suffering from a sharp economic downslide, as it is a heavily indebted country with almost Rs70 trillion in internal and external debt; at least $135 billion is external debt. It is a crisis, as we are now forced to take loans to repay the existing loans.

The country is in a severe debt trap, and there seems to be no strategy on how to retire this huge amount of debt. It is worrying that a debt management cell that works under the Ministry of Finance is doing nothing but keeping a tab on the amount of loans Pakistan has received so far. 

The economic affairs division is always in search of new loans and is strategising how to get more loans. There seems to be no plan to get rid of these loans. This is another fault line that is disturbing our economic and national security preferences.

The security situation in the country is complex, as the resurgence of terrorist activities has created more problems. Terrorism has marred and destroyed the fabric of society. The tense security situation does not allow anyone to invest in the country. This is the reason Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) continues to slide down, as security has become a major concern for investors. The security apparatus needs to be activated at the highest level, as we did after the gruesome incident of the APS attack a decade ago to root out terrorism from the country.

Terrorism in all its forms and designs is abhorrent and needs to be crushed with all our might. The state needs to be vigilant, and terrorist groups must be wiped out from our soil to save this country from total collapse. The state policy in this regard needs to be revisited if we are serious about improving economic security. There is no doubt that terrorism and its offshoot terrorist groups can put national security at risk.

The population bomb is another critical area of concern for policymakers, which is disturbing all our planning and economic progress. Such a large population with limited resources is a cause of panic, as Pakistan is suffering from high unemployment and slack in the economy. The youth bulge could have proven to be an asset had we taught them technical skills. This, unfortunately, is missing in this case. Now young people are wandering, behaving with increasing waywardness with no hopes.

They also try to get out of this country, but foreign visas are not that easy to get, especially for Pakistanis, owing to multiple obvious reasons. They are trying to get into e-commerce, but again internet issues are a hurdle to their supply of services to foreign companies which want fast service delivery. Population growth needs to be checked at all costs for which a solid policy is required on a war footing. Crime is also quite high, and it is on the rise due to an ever-increasing population.

Illiteracy is another cause of backwardness, as the country is still at the 61% literacy rate with almost 26 million children out of school. Literacy needs to be enhanced if we are to get into high growth, especially technical education needs to be imparted in young people to make them useful citizens. 

Skill development is the need of the hour so that the new generation can grab good earning opportunities, especially expatriates who could better earn to enhance remittances from abroad to bolster growth by contributing to foreign remittances.

This is one area where policymakers should be serious and make solid plans to educate people for the better future of Pakistan. Other countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh and India are earning much of their foreign remittances through their skilled workforce, which is missing in the case of Pakistan.

Lastly, relations with neighbours; cooperation at various economic forums; and alliances must be activated and enhanced. We rarely bother about or cater to our regional economic forums and bilateral cooperation. This needs the special attention of our policymakers.

Our lack of cooperation with regional players is disrupting our economic security and for that matter national security too, as we see a lot of terrorism and its source are our neighbours. Here lies our economic security fault line, which has the potential to disturb our national security goals. This needs a correction as well.

The writer is a former additional secretary and can be reached at [email protected]

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this piece are the writer's own and don't necessarily reflect Geo.tv's editorial policy.

Originally published in The News