Best ever recipe of a world level expert for the economic emancipation of Pakistani🇵🇰

The present downward slide could result in such an exchange rate collapse. But before that, hyper inflation generated by the precipitous depreciation of the exchange rate could destabilise the political system and become a major national security problem, God forbid. It is essential therefore that we take urgent measures to prevent such a disaster. The essential reason why the exchange rate is depreciating is that debt servicing has become so high that it cannot be financed from our meagre foreign exchange earnings. This means that we are borrowing at high interest rates on short term to finance servicing on past debts. But in the process further increasing the level of the debt stock and changing its composition towards high cost debt.

The way to address the problem is two-fold:
First, in the short term, repay the about USD 120 billion debt in one go from the earnings of leasing out under utilised urban government land in Lahore, Faisalabad and Islamabad, to property developers in the Middle East, US and China. This will quickly provide the fiscal space to chart a new course whereby we restructure the economy to work for the people rather than the foreign debtors.

Second initiate medium term policies to develop a people centred, high growth economy and diversify exports towards knowledge intensive, high value exports. ( See my paper in Strategic Thought, the NDU journal). This would liberate us from debt dependence and create an economy for and by the people. This would also create the economic underpinning of a sovereign state.

Dr Akmal Hussain