"Analysing Development: Economic Trajectories of Pakistan, India and Ba" by Dr. Ishrat Husain
 

Analysing Development: Economic Trajectories of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh

Faculty / School

School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS)

Was this content written or created while at IBA?

Yes

Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2023

Author Affiliation

  • Dr Ishrat Husain, Former Advisor to Prime Minister of Pakistan on Institutional Reforms and Austerity; and Former Dean and Director, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan

Book or Conference Proceedings Title

Sustainable Development Policy Institute’s Twenty-sixth Sustainable Development Conference

Conference Name

Light at the End of the Tunnel: Hope in Times of Despair

Conference Location

Islamabad

Conference Dates

23 November 2023

First Page

41

Last Page

48

Place of Publication

Islamabad

Keywords

Economic Trajectories,Pakistan,India,Bangladesh,Development trajectories

Abstract / Description

During its first 40 years, Pakistan was a star performer. Many young men and women, accustomed to hearing only doom and gloom on social and electronic media, might not realise the remarkable journey this country has undergone. At the time of Partition, Pakistan had no industrial base - just a single cement factory in Karachi - and received nothing from the reserves of the Bank of India that should have been allocated to it. The country lacked even the basic resources, such as pens and pencils, to start government operations, and it struggled to pay salaries. Yet, despite these challenges, Pakistan became one of the top ten performers in the world over the next four decades. The economy grew by 6% to 6.5% annually, poverty fell from nearly 75% to 35%, and the standard of living significantly improved. During the same period, Bangladesh separated from us in 1971, but from 1971 till 1990, their economy was flat. During those 40 years, the Indian economy was growing at just 3%, which was only half the rate of Pakistan’s economic growth. So, Pakistan’s per capita income was much higher than both India and Bangladesh. What’s particularly remarkable is that this period saw Pakistan endure five major shocks. One of the most significant challenges was the rehabilitation of nearly eight million refugees from India. In a country of 32 million people at the time, this meant absorbing a population equal to one-fourth of the country under extremely difficult circumstances. The second was, we had a war in 1965 with our neighbour, which is eight times bigger than Pakistan; and we were able to preserve our freedom, integrity, and security against a big neighbour. The third was a tragedy that we lost half of our country, which was the separation of East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh. The fourth shock was nationalisation of our industries, our banks, our insurance companies and educational institutions, which set us back. In a report from the 1970s, the World Bank highlighted that Pakistan’s manufactured exports in 1969 were higher than those of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. This is particularly impressive for a country that had no industrial base in 1947.

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